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by Doug Gelbert (Author)
America turns 250.
Let's go find the candles.
Looking for a history lesson that doesn't feel like homework? You've found it. At 250history.com, the Semiquincentennial Series brings each state's distinctive landmarks to center stage to tell their fast and fun story.
We've wandered through big cities, tiny towns, muddy trails, and neon-lit highways-uncovering 5,000 historic gems along the way.
The Semiquincentennial isn't just a mouthful-it's a reminder that history is alive, sometimes weird, and always waiting to be rediscovered.
Whether you're traveling by road, by printed page, or by imagination; whether you are a lifelong native or visiting for a week, we invite you to explore 100 Iowa landmarks that illuminate the one-of-a-kind story of the Hawkeye State.
Lincoln Highway... RAGBRAI... "Danish capital of America"... six-on-six
basketball... pedal buttons... POW camps... funiculars... "frozen water
trade"... squirrel cage jails... Meskers... the CCC... sprint cars... kissing
bridges... the golden age of motoring... earth lodges... Amana Colo-
ny... lime kilns... fire towers... Iowa Writers Workshop... "Cathedrals of
the Prairie"... Midwest Grotto Movement... lead rush... "Good Roads
Movement"... jewel box bans... Drake Relays... one-room schools...
round barns... atmospheric theaters... Lustron houses... This book will
have you telling stories like a native in no time.
The photos and stories collected here are a fast and fun way to learn
the explanations behind the quirks, the traditions and the secrets that
make Iowa uniquely Iowa. Where is the only Frank Lloyd Wright hotel
in the world? Solved. Why do hoboes make their way to Britt every
year? A mystery no more. What is the oldest operating airfield west of
the Mississippi River? Identified. What song from Meredith Wilson's
Music Man did the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show in their
American debut? Revealed. Why did the Dibbles install that Gothic
window on their simple frame farmhouse? No one knows.
It is a story only Iowa can call its own. A story told in 100 landmarks. Almost all the selections within are open to the public, or at least visible from public spaces. So, fire up the GPS and see the story of the Hawkeye State standing in plain sight on Iowa streets!
