Medical Miracles on the Trail
Along the trail, Lewis and Clark perservered over many diseases.

Bringing History Home: Elise Fillpot
Elise Fillpot received a grant for her "Bringing History Home" project, which incorporates historical documents, letters, artifacts, games, and more into lesson plans to make history more interesting for kids.

A Beautiful Character: Diana Reed
Until her Miss Iowa reign ends this June, Diana Reed will continue to inspire children across the state.

While Iowa City has its historic districts, conservation areas, and named developments, often clearly defined by state or federal requirements, it is also rich in neighborhoods—those often loosely defined areas that people identify as home.

It isn’t necessary to pass through a locked gate to sense that you’ve entered a different neighborhood. In Iowa City, Goosetown has a feeling about it that stretches back to the neighborhood’s settlers, while the low-lying area affectionately known as Mosquito Flats has a different ambience than Manville Heights, the neighborhood on limestone bluffs that overlooks it.

Iowa City has many homey neighborhoods exhibiting their various charms. Some are suggested by an architectural style or a period of development, while others reflect a school district or way of life. We look at three neighborhoods, two mature areas and one just beginning to form. See a map of how these neighborhoods relate to each other.

Goosetown

Bohemians who had endured Austrian oppression for generations began leaving their native land during the turbulent revolutionary period of the late 1840s. From then until the beginnings of World War I, a stream of immigrants flowed into the United States. Many who made their way west settled in eastern Iowa, with a neighborhood of “Bohemies” claiming an area of Iowa City north of Bloomington Street and east of Dubuque. Their neighborhood of modest framed houses with picket-fenced yards and large vegetable gardens was dubbed “Goosetown.” Despite its early pejorative meaning suggesting poverty and foreign origins, the term eventually evolved into a word of endearment.
View a Goosetown slideshow.

Longfellow Neighborhood

From the stately houses along Summit Street and the elegant Italianate house that was Grant Wood’s home to well-crafted bungalows and the quirky Moffitt Cottages, the Longfellow Neighborhood is defined not by an ethnic culture, but by people linked to a creek and a school. It’s a neighborhood where people enjoy regular walks under the trees that canopy over streets and sidewalks; where socializing on front porches is the norm; and where youngsters of succeeding generations are tempted by the waters of Ralston Creek.
View a Longfellow Neighborhood slideshow.

The Peninsula

Although construction is in its early phases, this new development at the end of Foster Road (just north and west of Mayflower Residence Hall) has been planned to offer today’s families the amenities of community living familiar 75 years ago. Relatively small yards put classically crafted houses close to the street, so passersby can visit with people on porches, and back alleys provide access to garages. With planned green spaces and smaller private lots, the Peninsula Neighborhood will eventually offer a variety of housing options designed to create a blended community.
View The Peninsula slideshow.