![]() ![]() The cornerstone of the Old Capitol Building was laid in Iowa City on July 4, 1840. One surviving 1839 sketch of the proposed capital shows a radically different layout, with two domes and a central tower. He quit the Iowa project after five months, claiming his design was not followed, but the resemblance to the Illinois capitol suggests he strongly influenced the final Iowa design. He had previously designed the 1837 capitol of Illinois and was supervising its construction when he got the commission to design the new Iowa capitol in 1839. Rague is credited with designing the Territorial Capitol Building. The Old Capitol dome is used as a letterhead for the University of Iowa. The capitol building was completed in 1842, and the last four territorial legislatures and the first six Iowa General Assemblies met there until 1857, when the state capital was moved to Des Moines. While Iowa City was selected as the territorial capital in 1839, it did not officially become the capital city until 1841 after construction on the capitol building had begun. ![]() in the south, and from the Iowa River eastward to Governor St. There is an eminence on the west near the river, running parallel with it." īy June of that year, the town had been platted and surveyed from Brown St. Iowa City is located on a section of land laying in the form of an amphitheater. Commissioner Swan, in a report to the legislature in Burlington, described the site: The following day the commissioners selected a site on bluffs above the Iowa River north of Napoleon, placed a stake in the center of the proposed site and began planning the new capital city. In this second location, as shown, it became the notorious City Hotel.Ĭommissioners Chauncey Swan and John Ronalds met on May 1 in the small settlement of Napoleon, south of present-day Iowa City, to select a site for the new capital city. Image recorded after the building, which was called Butler's Capitol, had been moved from its original location near Clinton and Washington streets to an alley-side location along Dubuque Street a half-block south of College Street. īuilding in which the Iowa Territorial Legislature first met in Iowa City. so soon as the place shall be selected, and the consent of the United States obtained, the commissioners shall proceed to lay out a town to be called "Iowa City". This act began:Īn Act to locate the Seat of Government of the Territory of Iowa. Iowa City was created by an act of Legislative Assembly of the Iowa Territory on January 21, 1839, fulfilling the desire of Governor Robert Lucas to move the capital out of Burlington and closer to the center of the territory. In 2008, Forbes magazine named Iowa City the second-best small metropolitan area for doing business in the United States. The University of Iowa Art Museum and Plum Grove, the home of the first Governor of Iowa, are also tourist attractions. The Old Capitol building is a National Historic Landmark in the center of the University of Iowa campus. Iowa City was the second capital of the Iowa Territory and the first capital city of the State of Iowa. This CSA plus two additional counties are known as the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids region which collectively has a population of nearly 500,000. The Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is also a part of a Combined Statistical Area (CSA) with the Cedar Rapids MSA. The metropolitan area, which encompasses Johnson and Washington counties, has a population of over 171,000. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-largest city. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. ![]() Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. ![]()
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