One never knows who they’re going to run into or what they’ll see when they visit a bar. I like old bars, especially ones with the right kind of atmosphere; the… […]
Iowa City’s most iconic bars: A look at George’s past and present
Marlin Ingalls
IC History: Reexamining the cold case files
Though Iowa City has never experienced a debacle on the scale of the Villisca axe murder, or crime rates like those seen in big cities, it has had its share of unsolved murders and missing persons. In late 2009, a state cold case unit was established and nearly 150 cases were listed on their website […]
Iowa City’s extensive network of beer caves, ice caves, tunnels and more
Few people know about the old caves and tunnels beneath Iowa City, and why should they? Buried beneath streets, buildings and houses all around the older parts… […]
The history and evolution of beer zombies in Iowa City
Iowa City is about to receive its annual plague of beer zombies. Between students coming back, the ruckus of football weekends and party-town binge drinking, the number of these late-night drunks staggering the streets will increase exponentially. For all residents that find beer zombies lost in their neighborhood, flailing in their yard or evacuating their […]
IC History: Iowa City’s early crossroads
Before interstates, before pavement and even before concrete, Iowa City was becoming a major crossroads–for both the state and the nation. It began in 1839 when the Old Military Road–which got its name from the Iowa Dragoons that briefly used the thoroughfare–was built from Dubuque to Iowa City, the new territorial capitol. This first road […]
IC History: Changing the channel
Most Iowa Citians don’t know how the Iowa River between the Burlington Street Bridge and northern part of City Park came to look as it does, nor that the channel once followed a very different course through the city. Would one know what was underfoot while walking along its banks or viewing it from afar? Who remembers the islands in the river, the quarries along its banks or the changes in 1939 that made them disappear? […]
The Iowa City Beer Riots of 1884
In the second half of the 19th century three breweries operated along Linn and Jefferson streets. Their money and influence ruled much of the Northside’s economy, and they were known as the German Beer Mafia. Hundreds were happily employed in their operations but it all turned very dark one day in 1884. In the worst […]
A guide to the recently-saved pieces of Iowa City history
In the old residential neighborhood located along the 300 block of East Jefferson Street and the 200 block of North Gilbert Street is a concentration of some of the city’s most notable historic homes. This winter, in the face of potential redevelopment, the City Council voted unanimously in favor of designating the neighborhood a local […]