at corner of 6th Street SW and 12th Avenue SW
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
September 21, 2010 - AM
A masonry building products supplier for the Cedar Rapids area – this red car caught my eye as we headed into town.
9th Street NW
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
September 21, 2010 - AM
The Mother Mosque of America is the longest standing mosque in North America. Built in 1934, it is the second oldest after the 1929 mosque built in tiny Ross, North Dakota, however that mosque was torn down in the 1970s and later rebuilt in 2005, leaving the Mother Mosque as the oldest standing. Construction was completed on February 15, 1934. This small structure served as a place of worship for Muslims for nearly forty years. The Mother Mosque stands in a quiet neighborhood, flanked by houses on both sides, with a small marker off of 1st Ave pointing the way to this historical site. Due to its small size, the majority of the Muslim population in Eastern Iowa and the Cedar Rapids area worship at other mosques, but the Mother Mosque remains a prominent center for information, prayer, and community. The Mother Mosque is now listed on both the Iowa State Historical Register and the National Register of Historic Places as an "essential piece of American religious history, which symbolizes tolerance and acceptance of Islam and Muslims in the United States." It was listed on the National Register in 1996 as Moslem Temple. In June, 2008 waters flooded the mosque's basement, “where most of the books, artifacts, historic documents, old photos and filmed documentaries are stored”, “likely destroying nearly a century's worth of records, documents and artifacts.
County Trunk Hwy. W24 – 29th Avenue
Newhall, Iowa
September 21, 2010 - AM
Mural on a grain storage bin
off of the Lincoln Highway – corner of State Hwy 131 and Rt 30
near Kane and Iowa Townships
September 21, 2010 – (mid-day)
Belle Plaine (pop. 2878) is located on the historic Lincoln highway and the cross- country tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad. The name "Belle Plaine" is said to mean "Belle of the Prairie" or Beautiful Plain" and was chosen at the same time the railroad came. In 1894 fire struck Belle Plaine destroying most of the business district. Belle Plaine's unique architecture comes from the rebuilding process that took place from 1894 to around 1916. The Lincoln highway came through Belle Plaine in1913 bringing many restaurants, hotels, and gas stations with it.
intersection of 13th and 6th Avenue on the 1913 Lincoln Highway Route
Belle Plaine, Iowa
September 21, 2010
A historic stop on the 1913 Lincoln Highway the Café has fallen on hard times recently. The café was not open as it was being renovated by a new owner on the day we looked around Belle Plaine. It turns out that the current owner – originally from (of all places) Albania and now from nearby Tama, Iowa had bought the restaurant from the estate of the previous owner who it turns out had been murdered in his home the previous summer. A former waitress at the Café (and girlfriend/commonlaw wife of the previous owner) has since been convicted of 1st degree murder. Her son is due to stand trial for 1st degree murder in January. The café will open sometime late in the fall and it will feature home-style cooking and be open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In 1913 the Lincoln Highway took a southern loop to avoid the rolling hills between Cedar Rapids and Tama. Eventually, those hills were graded to make way for U.S. Highway 30, which bypassed Belle Plaine by several miles. However, the spirit of the Lincoln Highway is still alive and well in Belle Plaine, although apparently even intrigue and crime can not escape this waystation.
corner of 8th and Main Street looking north
September 21, 2010
A storm was brewing in the area as we took a side route off of Route 30 on an earlier version (1913) of the Lincoln Highway and headed for Belle Plaine. The side road was dirt, that is until we got into the outskirts of the town, when the road became hardtop, although puckered with pot holes. On the north and east side of the town we were puzzled by a golf course and a fancy appearance, this despite the rural (and somewhat charming but decayed) appearance of the rest of the area. Clearly Belle Plaine had once seen better times (a common thread of thinking throughout most of my trip) and was at the cross-roads of making a stab at a comeback. Main Street, which had seen a devastating, 5 block fire (in the late 1890’s) was struggling to find a new character.
8th Street
Belle Plain, Iowa
September 21, 2010
In 1886, a well for a creamery was drilled at Belle Plaine in the Iowa River valley; this well also tapped the sand and gravel aquifer. The elevation of this well was about 100 feet lower than the previously drilled livestock wells, resulting in a strong flow of water from the well. At the well head, the artesian pressure of the aquifer was sufficient to lift the water 67 feet above the surface. In August 1886, the City of Belle Plaine contracted to have a well drilled for fire protection. This well soon became widely known by the name "Jumbo." In the words of geologist W.H. Norton (1896): "The notoriety of Jumbo was strictly that of a member of the criminal class, and began with the driller’s resistance to control, and lasted only until his final imprisonment. The beginning of the trouble lay in the fact that the driller attempted to use the force of the flow in reaming out the two-inch bore, which he had put down for want of a larger drill, to three inches, the dimension specified in the contract. This task the water speedily accomplished in the unindurated clays and sands, but not stopping there went on and soon enlarged the bore to over three feet in diameter. When the driller saw the result of his inexcusable carelessness, which result he ought to have foreseen, he hastily decamped and was not heard of until the popular excitement had subsided." The flow from Jumbo roiled out of the three-foot bore in a fountain that stood five feet high. Estimates of the initial, maximum flows varied from 30,000 to 50,000 gallons per minute. The flow diminished rapidly, and two weeks later was calculated to be about 2,000 gallons per minute, by Professor T.C. Chamberlain from the University of Chicago. Along with the water came sand -- an estimated 500 to 1,000 carloads of sand. "The quantity was certainly so great that only with the greatest effort could the ditches be kept open to carry off the water"(Mosnat, 1898). Chunks of fossil wood and stones weighing over two pounds were also hurled from the well. Norton (1896) describes the effort to stem the flow, which ultimately took over 13 months: "During this time the well, 193 feet deep, devoured, as the local historian recounts, 163 feet of 18-inch pipe, 77 feet of 16-inch pipe, 60 feet of 5-inch pipe, an iron cone 3 feet in diameter and 24 feet long, 40 carloads of stone, 130 barrels of cement, and an inestimable amount of sand and clay."
the Lincoln Highway (1913 edition)
Belle Plaine, Iowa
‘The sides of the station are covered with old advertising and road signs, several from the Lincoln Highway era. "Preston began collecting those artifacts when he started working in the station at the age of thirteen. On the east side of the station is a garage which houses a treasure trove of antiques, including a 1925 Model T which Preston bought for $100 for his son. The elder Preston was flown to Los Angeles on March 21, 1990, where he broke up Johnny Carson on the 'Tonight Show'. His death at 83 warranted headlines in the August 15, 1993, issue of The Des Moines Register." - Greg Franzwa, The Lincoln Highway: Iowa, 1995
“Unfortunately, the Association must report that Blanche Preston, wife of George, recently passed away. While George was more talkative, flamboyant and well known, Blanche was always part of the action at the station and small motel that they operated. She could and did perform all duties from pumping gas to cleaning rooms – and she did a wonderful job or raising their two boys, Ron and Monte. Of course, the question always arises, what will happen to the station now. Ron Preston has been to all of our National Conferences and many of the Iowa meetings. I believe he has a good sense of the importance of the Lincoln Highway in our history and I know he knows how much the station means to the history of the Highway. It appears that this perspective will be guiding future decisions regarding the station. Well preserved and with continued presentation to the public, it would make a great memorial to Blanche and George."
(Bob Ausberger, Along the Lincoln Highway, The Newsletter of the ILHA, July/August 1998)
"The two-car caravan of the Louis Round family passed through Belle Plaine on June 23, 1914, heading back to Cleveland. He reported to The Motorist magazine, that 'The roads so far are beyond my expectation - they are as a general thing well marked.'
Thornton Round remembered Belle Plaine. 'This town claimed a great distinction. It had a paved street!'
The March 16, 1915, issue of the Belle Plaine newspaper reported that vast traffic was expected on the Lincoln Highway this year, with many expected to drive to the Panama- Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. The great fair would celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal."
-[ Gregory Franzwa, The Lincoln Highway: Iowa, The Patrice Press, 1995.]
Lincoln Highway
Belle Plaine, Iowa
September 21, 2010
Established in 1923 the station is now overseen by son Ron who is 63 years old. Ron had been a trucker and as he told me he had been in all of the states except Alaska and Maine. He moved back to Belle Plaine (from Kansas City) upon retirement to take care of the family house and the station. He told me that folks from all over come by to have a look at the station including lots of folks from Europe who are passing through. He also told me that he had been laid up for the last month due to a ruptured Achilles Tendon which he had repaired at the V.A. As I was about to leave he invited me in and gave me a few old photos that he had of the station. He also told me about the best road to see the most famous bridge on the Lincoln Highway (built in 1915) known as The Lincoln Highway Bridge (in Tama, Iowa).
