The Amana Colonies are a group of
seven villages established in the
1850’s by a group of Germanspeaking European settlers. These
settlers belonged to a religious
group known as the Community of
True Inspiration. The name Amana
means to “remain faithful”. They
are located a little west of Cedar
Rapids in Iowa County.
Burlington is a town located in the southeastern part of Iowa.
There are many interesting things in Burlington. The
Burlington Hawk Eye is Iowa’s oldest daily newspaper. Snake
Alley is the” crookedest street in the world”. The Burlington
Bees is the city’s minor league baseball team. Twice,
Burlington has been the finish point for RAGBRAI, the annual
bicycle ride that starts at the Missouri River in Western Iowa
and ends in Eastern Iowa at the Mississippi River. Crapo Park
is where the first American flag was flown on Iowan soil.
In 1868, outside of Dubuque, Iowa, lead
miners drilled 40 feet into the ground to
find traces to rich veins, but found
instead a natural geological wonder of
matchless beauty. In the cave there are
different shapes of crystals and a small
pool of water. The cave is very cramped
and cool.
Julian Dubuque was a French Canadian
who arrived near what today is known as
Dubuque, Iowa. Dubuque is known as
the first European to settle in the area,
and become a friend of the Native
Americans here. In 1788 he was given
permission from the Fox Native American
tribe to mine the lead in the area. He
lived in the area the rest of his life, until
he died on March 24, 1812.
Iowa is the largest producer of
eggs in the world , Iowa has
more than 80 egg producers
that produce around 14.25
billion eggs per year. May is
national egg month in the USA.
The Field of Dreams is in Dyersville, Iowa. It is the sight of a famous movie
called “Field of Dreams”. It is based on a book called “Shoeless Joe”. Peop
have visited this sight since May 5,1989. The movie is about a guy who
hears a voice that tells him to make a baseball field. He removes some of
his corn on the farm, then famous baseball players come down from
heaven to play on the field. They come out of the corn to play, and only if
you believe you can see the game.
Geode is Iowa’s state rock.
Southeastern Iowa is one of
the state’s best geode
collecting area. The most
common size of geodes are
about 3-4 inches across but
sometimes reach 2 feet
across and larger. There ‘s a
Geode State Park near
Lowell, Iowa.
Herbert Hoover was the 31st President of
the United States of America. He was the
first president to be born west of the
Mississippi River. He was born in West
Branch on August 10, 1874, and died
October 20, 1964. His dad, Jesse Hoover,
was a blacksmith in West Branch.
Herbert’s wife was Lou Henrery Hoover.
She was born in 1874 and died in 1944.
They are buried near his birthplace in
West Branch.
Some Interesting about Iowa is December 28, 1846
is its Birthday. It’s Capitol City is in Des Moines. It’s
population is 2,926,324. Two US Ranks that are first
are corn, pork product, and soybean product. Major
Industries of Iowa are Agriculture,
Manufacturing\Wholesale, trade, service, tourism.
The highest point in elevation in Iowa are Hawkeye
point, and osilbey in Osceola county and the lowest
points are Keokuk and where the Mississippi river
and Des Monies meet. Our time zone is Central.
The nickname is the Hawkeye State. The state
motto is “Our Liberties we prize and our rights we
will maintain.” The state tree is the Oak Tree. The
state bird is the eastern goldfinch. Iowa is the only
state boarded by two navigational rivers.
John Wayne was an Academy Award winning American film actor. He
won 14 golden globes. He was known for his distinctive voice, walk and
enormous physical presence. He played in 142 films. In 1964 he was
diagnosed with lung cancer, and underwent successful surgery to
remove his entire left lung and four ribs. He was born in Winterset,
Iowa on May 22, 1907 and died at the age of 72 in Los Angeles , Cali-
fornia on June 11, 1979.
Keokuk is a city in the Southwest part of
Iowa. It is home to many attractions such
as the Keokuk National Cemetery . It is 1 of
12 that are in the USA. The George M.
Verity River Museum is located in Victory
Park on the riverfront. Other parks are
Bluffs Park, Joyce Park , Kilbourne Park,
Kiser Park, Rand Park, Rees Park, Riverview
Park, Tomie Park, Triangle Park, Tumelty
Park, and Victory Park. There’s also a
statue of Chief Keokuk in Rand Park. The
lock and dam 19# built in 1910-1913 is
now the largest electricity generating plant
in the world.
The best examples of the Loess Hills
are found in western. They were
made from a wind blown deposit of
coarse silt between 30,000 and
14,000 years ago. The hills were than
eroded by water to form the steep
hillsides. The word “Loses” is German
in origin.
Matchstick Marvels are sculpture made of matchsticks. A guy
named Patrick Acton makes them and puts them in a museum in
Gladbrook, Iowa. He made a brachiosaurus, the White House, a
rocket, the U.S.S. Iowa, the Chartres Cathedral, Pinocchio, and many
more. He continues to build his wooden models as a hobby.
The Norway Baseball Team won 20 state championships in a
row. The Final Season is a movie about the team’s last season
as their own school.
History lives on at Old Fort Madison. Discover military life as it was on
the rugged frontier to the Louisiana Purchase. The fort is an accurate
reconstruction of the first military fort to the upper Mississippi. It is
located in front of the Mississippi river in Fort Madison.
Pottawattamie County is located in the southwest part of
Iowa. At the 2010 censes there where 89,236 people living
in Pottawattamie County. There is a total of 960 square
miles in it, six of those being water and 954 of them being
land.
Raccoon River is a river in Iowa. It has three branches and the mouth of
the river is the Des Moines River. It is 2 hundred miles long and located
in central Iowa. The North Raccoon River is the longest of the three
rivers. The Middle Raccoon River is 76 miles long. The South Raccoon
River is about 50 miles long. People canoe and fish in the river.
State
The State Capitol
Building was
completed in 1886. It
is located in Des
Monies. The cost of it
was $2,873,294.54. It
has 298 steps in the
building. The top of
the Capitol Building is
a golden dome that
you can walk up to.
The dome itself cost
was $400,000. There
are 29 different kinds
of marbles. The
chandeliers are 500
pounds There are 29
fireplaces in the state
capitol.
Terrace Hill was built for a family in 1869. The first millionaire, Benjamin
Franklin Allen, in Iowa built Terrace Hill. It is in Des Moines. Another
name for it is Hubble Mansion. There are four floors, ground, second,
third, and basement. The third floor is the governor’s private
apartment and their home.
The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad. It
was an organized system for helping escaped slaves from the southern
states to reach freedom in the north or Canada in the years before the
Civil War. In Iowa, anti-slavery Quakers played a leading role in helping
escaped slaves reach freedom. Many stop on the one of many
Underground Railroad was the Hitchcock House. The Hitchcock House
was built in 1856 by Reverend George Hitchcock, a congregational
minister. The house is one of the few remaining “stations” in Iowa. It is
located near Lewis, Iowa.
On June 10, 1912 eight people were murdered
by an ax in Villisca. There names were Josiah
Moore, Sarah Moore, Herman Moore, Katherine
Moore, Boyd Moore, Paul Moore, Sarah
Stillinger, and Joseph Stillinger, Six of eight were
younger than 12. This case is still unsolved.
Reverend Lyn George Jaklin Kelly confessed to
the murders a few years later, but charges were
dropped after one trial ended in a hung jury and
the second jury acquitted him.
The Wild Rose is the state flower of Iowa. The
color of the Wild Rose is pink. Varieties range
from single plants to woody shrubs up to 4 feet
tall; 1 half inches fruit or hips maintain their
color into the winter: The plant is known to
bloom in June. The Prairie Rose is the state
flower of Iowa.
XXVIV stands for 29 in Roman numerals. Iowa became the
29th state of the United States on December 28,1846. The
flag is blue, red, and white with an eagle in the middle. The
first governor of Iowa was Robert Lucus.
Corn is one of Iowa’s agricultural
crops. In 2006 Iowa corn on 12.4
million acres of land. In 2007
they harvested more than 2.5
billion bushels on a record
breaking 13.9 million arcs.
Iowa has two hardiness zones. Northern
Iowa is in zone three, which means the
average minimum temperature is-40 to -30.
The southern part of Iowa is in zone four
with an average minimum temperature of 30 to -20. This system of temperature zones
was developed by the United States
Department of Agriculture. It helps
gardeners decide which plants can be grown
in their area.