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In this photo from 1914, Dart Motor Manufacturing Co. vehicles are on display on the Fifth Street bridge in Waterloo. PHOTO COURTESY OF GROUT MUSEUM
A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE CEDAR VALLEY Part I: Mid-1800s-1930s
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Watch for The Story of Us
META HEMENWAY-FORBES
meta.hemenway-forbes@wcfcourier.com
ommunity history creates an understanding and awareness of where we’ve come from and where we’re going. The importance of our history cannot be understated. The Cedar Valley was key to the success of business and commerce in the Midwest. Transportation networks here connected east to west and north to south. Education, recreation and celebrations were, and still are, a vital fabric of our community. In this first installment of a three-part series, “The Story of Us,” we’re taking a look at the mid-1800s through the 1930s. These pictures show not only a community on the rise, but also a community that has persevered. The slices of life you’ll see on these pages and on those to come represent the story of the Cedar Valley’s people, our livelihoods and the countless times we’ve pulled together to save each other and our community. This is the Story of Us.
T he second and third parts of the series will publish on the following dates: Aug. 16 — The 1940s, 1950s and 1960s Sept. 20 — More than 125 years of pictorial history, including recent memories. COURIER FILE PHOTO
Blaine Carpenter hugs his girlfriend, Kathy Dix, as their dog, Harley, looks on. The trio was evacuated from their flooded Weiden Road home in Waterloo on Tuesday, June 10, 2008.
Explore more The photos in this and upcoming installments of the Story of Us series have been culled from the Courier’s “Cedar Valley Memories” book series. The three hardcover books, featuring the storied history of the Cedar Valley, are available for purchase. Find out how to get your own set of “Cedar Valley Memories” books on page 11.
COMING SOON! OPENING SEPT. 6
SULKIES TO SPEEDWAYS:
THE NEED FOR SPEED IN THE CEDAR VALLEY Sulkies, Motorcycles, Drag Strips, and Race Cars- Experience the “Need for Speed” in the Cedar Valley over the past 125 years. 00 1
TOUCH IT. SEE IT. FEEL IT.
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THE STORY OF US
C2 | Thursday, July 26, 2018
LIFE
The Courier
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Campbell Motor Car Co., “Home of the Great Overland Car,” Waterloo, circa 1910.
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META HEMENWAY-FORBES | meta.hemenway-forbes@wcfcourier.com
ever let it be said that the residents of the Cedar Valley didn’t know how to enjoy themselves. Stories of recreation and celebration date back to its early years. From sports, to fairs, to the simple pleasures of a cold drink from a soda fountain, early area dwellers found myriad ways to have a good time. Soda fountain at L. O. Hieber & Co., 222 Main St., Cedar Falls, circa 1900. CEDAR FALLS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
East Waterloo High School football team, circa 1910s.
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THE STORY OF US
The Courier
Thursday, July 26, 2018 | C3
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
East High School graduating class of 1889. Front row, from left: Anna Caitlin, GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES Cora Chamberlain, Mrs. E.E. Peek, Emma Hackett, Ida Morrill. Back row, This mid-1920s photo is said to have been taken at the first YMCA. It is not known if this was the Railroad YMCA Minnie Collins, William T. Evans, Fannie Gates, Mary Alford, Lore Alford, over the Illinois Central shops or the YMCA in downtown Waterloo. Blanch Cornish, Claud Bodell. The school opened in 1887 at Mulberry and Sixth streets in Waterloo and later became Hawthorne Elementary.
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Boys playing baseball after school at a Waterloo high school, 1900.
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Great Western Creamery wagon on Logan Avenue, Waterloo, circa early 1900s.
Settlers’ Picnic, Waterloo, August 1932. From left, F.R. Fisher, Will Evans, Fred Fisher, A Lane.
BREMER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM 00 1
Baseball game in Frederika, circa early 1900s.
THE STORY OF US
C4 | Thursday, July 26, 2018
The Courier
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Gates College students running a “three-legged” race, Waterloo, circa 1920.
BREMER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM
Cedar Valley Farm parade float at the Bremer County Fair, circa 1911.
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Antioch Baptist Church Happy Hour Club at the YWCA, Waterloo, circa 1930s.
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES WATERLOO AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MUSEUM Cedar River lifeguards, Waterloo, circa 1910s. First on the left is Joe Eagle. The first grade class at Grant School, located at 1223 Mobile St., taken in October of 1937. 00 1
THE STORY OF US
The Courier
PEOPLE
Thursday, July 26, 2018 | C5
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
First Baptist Church’s culinary department for an August 1909 picnic.
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MELODY PARKER | melody.parker@wcfcourier.com
eople arrived in the Cedar Valley with a desire to put down roots and grow a strong and prosperous future. In the early years, folks shared a common commitment and determination to build communities and lives for themselves and their families through hard work, education and service, as well as socializing and being good neighbors.
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
LEFT: The Red Waist Club, a ladies’ social group, taking the steamboat “Umatilla” along the Cedar River in Waterloo, circa 1890s. The boat carried passengers from the
Park Avenue landing to Chautauqua Park. Right: Waterloo Police Department, circa 1887. Front row, from left: R.W. Dinzy, Major and Chief J.M. Grout, Frank Fenstmaker. Back row, two unidentified, Howell, Chas. Whetlafer.
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Hotel Russell-Lamson Christmas party featuring Parrish, Sulentic, Larsen and other family members, Waterloo, 1927. 00 1
THE STORY OF US
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The Courier
Louisa May Alcott School students, 1889. The school stood on Walnut between East Second and Third streets from 1893 until 1940. GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
WATERLOO AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MUSEUM PHOTOS
Above: African-Americans who worked for Illinois Central in Mississippi were given passes to go to Waterloo to help break the strike. Most came from Holmes County in Mississippi. By 1915 there were 400 African-Americans living and working in Waterloo. Right: Charlie Griggs, shown here in his World War I uniform, was secretary of the Black Austin-Tolliver Legion Post when it was formed in Waterloo in 1922.
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Zion Evangelical Church, Bennington Township, 1887.
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THE STORY OF US
Thursday, July 26, 2018 | C7
“We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage.” - William Howard Taft
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION
President Taft speaking from a train in Cedar Falls, 1908.
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Boy Scouts at the West Side Library, Waterloo, circa 1915.
Crowds scaling baggage cars to witness an appearance from President Taft at Waverly Junction, 1908. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION
BREMER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM 00 1
Wartburg Band, 1910.
THE STORY OF US
C8 | Thursday, July 26, 2018
WORK
The Courier
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Rath Meat Packing Co., Waterloo, 1894. Front row (seated), from left: Herman Henkle, Ole Madison, Nels Larsen. Second row, James Condon, Sam Mentzer, Cyrrus Corson, John Rath, Cornelius Buehner, Will Rohlwing. Back row: Gus Holzer, Frank Rath, Charles Wagner, Will Otto, Tom Flanagan, John Miller, Nick Garreus, Hank Lemper, August Becker.
META HEMENWAY-FORBES | meta.hemenway-forbes@wcfcourier.com
I
t’s impossible to tout the success of the Cedar Valley industry without mentioning one of its earliest and heaviest hitters — John Deere. The tractor manufacturer is at the top of the list of businesses that played a semi-
nal role in making the Cedar Valley the blue-collar breadbasket of Iowa. It had good company in Viking Pump, Waterloo Industries, Illinois Central Railroad, Rath Packing Co. and others that provided early residents their livelihoods.
BREMER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Workers at the Corn Belt Telephone Co. at 89-91 E. Fifth St., Waterloo, in 1906.
George Kohlmann’s tailor shop, Waverly, circa 1918.
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Waterloo Evening Courier newsies, 1916. 00 1
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The Courier
Thursday, July 26, 2018 | C9
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Waterloo Gasoline Engine Co. at West Third and Cedar streets, Waterloo, 1912. The company developed the Waterloo Boy Tractor in 1914 and sold to John Deere in 1919. Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern railway sewer construction, Waterloo, circa 1905.
Waterloo Cement Block Co. employees, Waterloo, circa 1920s. GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
S. P. Wadley Co. produce, 724 Water St., Waterloo, 1910. GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES 00 1
Illinois Central Railroad boiler shop, Waterloo, circa 1910s.
THE STORY OF US
C10 | Thursday, July 26, 2018
The Courier
PULLING TOGETHER
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
City Mill fire in Waterloo on Dec. 29, 1901.
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META HEMENWAY-FORBES | meta.hemenway-forbes@wcfcourier.com
he Cedar Valley’s mettle has been tested numerous times over the decades. More often than not, it involved the Cedar River or other forces of Mother Nature. In 1858, Waterloo and Cedar Falls were hit by severe flooding. In 1885, a tornado tore through downtown Waterloo, uprooting trees and flattening buildings.
There was no shortage of economic hardship, either. The area endured the Great Depression, in which all Waterloo banks closed. Only one — Waterloo Savings Bank — reopened. But the people of the Cedar Valley pulled together and pulled through, a testament to their indomninable spirits.
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Cedar River floodwaters, looking east into Waterloo, March 16, 1929.
Red Cross volunteers in Waterloo in 1918 during World War I. GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
West Fourth and Bluff streets looking southwest in Waterloo during the Dry Run Creek flood of 1902. GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
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Thursday, July 26, 2018 | C11
A trainwreck near Washburn on June 10, 1919.
Residents wade through flood waters at the intersection of E. Fifth and Commercial streets in Waterloo during the Dry Run Creek flood of 1902.
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
GROUT MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Soldiers departing from Waterloo in 1917 during World War I.
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Cedar Valley: The STory of US
157 YEARS The Courier WATERLOO CEDAR FALLS 319-291-1497 100 E. 4th www.wcfcourier.com
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Satisfaction... Today and Tomorrow Since 1980 319-266-0807
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