Unique Places in Iowa

French communalists relocated here after the closing of their community in Nauvoo, Illinois. They had a 46 year run as a commune here a few miles to the east of Corning, Iowa in the latter half of the 19th century. Nothing but a State historical roadside sign remains of their community, though plans are afoot to restore the community and a few artifacts are exhibited in the Adams County House of History in Corning - Corning is also the boyhood home of TV entertainer Johnny Carson and his home is also a museum that is open in the summer.

Established in May 1846 as a large semi-permanent camp of between 700 to 2000 people to serve as a second way station for Latter Day Saints migrants who were making their way across Iowa en route from Nauvoo, Illinois to what would eventually be their new home in Utah. It only took four days after it was decided to establish the camp for the pioneers to get over 1000 acres of land started on the way into agricultural production to supply the needed food to pioneering Mormon families. The camp was abandoned in 1852 after the main initial Mormon migrations were at an end.

Today, you can reach the park via a series of dirt roads of US route 169 a few mile north of its junction with US route 34. The park consists of a couple of picnic tables and a rest room located high above fields along the upper reaches of the Grand River. A monument dating back to 1888 commemorates those 800 people who died while tending the gardens of the way station. There is also a replica of one of the log cabin dug-outs built by local Mormons as well as a memorial to four young LDS missionaries who died in a local car crash.

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If you go to Utah or States neighboring around, you will find many communities where the majority of the population is Mormon of the Latter-Day Saints (LDS) version. Lamoni is one of the few communities where the Reorganized Latter-Day Saints (RLDS)/Community of Christ is in preponderance. The idea of ‘gathering’ or coming together from their disparate communities was always strong within the different branches of the Mormon diaspora - there were very strong strains of millenarianism throughout 19th century Mormonism and the RLDS community was affected by these ideas as well. In the 1870’s, several RLDS church businessmen formed a joint stock company naming it the Order of Enoch in honor of earlier Mormon attempts at communal living in Kirtland, Ohio. They purchased over 3200 acres in the area and encouraged the ‘Reorganized Saints’ to migrate here. The town was platted in 1879 with the arrival of the railroad and became the headquarters of the RLDS movement when church leader Joseph Smith III moved his family here from Plano, Illinois in 1881. The town still maintains a strong RLDS/Community of Christ community - the large church on Main Street just west of the right angle US route 69 makes as it turns from east-west on Main Street to north-south as it continues on State Street. Graceland University is the RLDS/Community of Christ equivalent of Brigham Young University or Notre Dame and the school remains an important part of the cultural and economic fabric of Lamoni today.

If you have a car you can drive via scenic route to CHicago. It is a nice drive and you will be passing many qute towns on your way. Great history lesson too.
Chicago is one of the most beautiful cities in US.

If you think Pomeroy, Iowa is a quiet town in the middle of the prairie with an activity level of- blink an eye and you will miss the town- THINK AGAIN!

As a reporter and writer for an Iowa newspaper, my editor assigned me to write about the progress of Pomeroy, Iowa in 2007. My expectations were fairly low, and I was dragging my feet as my Mazda tires approached the edge of town. As a practitioner of Buddhism, I have realized that when my expectations are at their lowest, miraculous things tend to occur.

I wasn’t entering a small town in Iowa; I was entering a colony of tye-dye imagination and art galore.

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Six towns that have retained their rual charm and a proud history. Amana is located north of I-80 and offers a look into 19th Century America. The town of Amana is only a few blocks long, but you'll find museums, great restaurants and wonderful shops of American products.

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The entire northeast corner of Iowa is the a unique area of agriculture in the U.S. I've been through it hundreds, okay a couple dozen, times. In January, it can be bleak and dark. In August it'll roast your socks off. In spring, it's blustery and damp. Come autumn and it's sunny and cool. Each season, each road, offers a new experience. Here, as a Heritage Area, you can find unique places to stop and visit.

No other region in the United States shares our rich agricultural legacy. From dairy farms and museums to vineyards and tractor assembly tours, there are practically endless agricultural adventures awaiting individual travelers as well as families.'

VT's guide to the Heritage Area:
Waterloo
Cedar Rapids
Dubuque
Amana
Ames
Cedar Falls
Davenport
Dettendorf
Decorah

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Click to see the school house and the bridge

On the way to Muscatine, we went to Wilcat Den State Park to see The Pine Creek Grist Mill and the Melpine Schoolhouse

After an "interesting" ride on back roads, we finally arrived. It was toward the end of the school year; thus, lots of classes of grade school children were on field trips here. We "tagged" along and listed to the tour guides.

Note: I will have much more about this whole complex on my up-coming Muscatine pages.

The mill was built on Pine Creek by Benjamin Nye in 1848 [it was the third mill he had built on this location because he kept outgrowing them]. They have some of the original machinery from the 1848 mill as well as newer machinery from 1927 that was added to increase production. 1927 was also the year that the State of Iowa purchased the mill from the Missel family. At that time, it became part of Wilcat Den State Park.

In 1996, The Friends of Pine Creek Grist Mill became organized with the mission of restoring the mill to operational format and in preserving the heritage of the mill. With the help of the Dept of Natural Resources, the State Historical Society, and the community, the mill's foundation has been stabilized, the structure and dam have been repaired, and the machinery is now in working order.

The Melpine one-room rural school is usually open on Sunday afternoons from one to five o'clock beginning in June. Because of the school children and their field trip, we were fortunate to see it inside and out. [I'm doing a tip about it in my Muscatine pages].

Grist Mill is Open:
May through October
Wednesday through Sunday
1:00 pm to 5:00 pm