Time Frame | Artifact Type | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
1920 | Photo | 'Inpassable' Dirt Road | This handmade sign warned drivers that the road was impassable. (The sign maker wasn't a good speller!) Before hard-surfaced roads, Iowa's dirt roads became a sticky, muddy quagmire. |
1656 | Photo | 1656 map showing the uncharted west | A map of the undiscovered western United States. This early map shows how little was known about the western part of North America in 1656. |
c. 1850s | Video | 1850s Surveyor Kit | Time Travel Iowa | Surveyor tools were instrumental in the development of our state and the planning of our communities. Surveying in Iowa began in the early 1800s before it was a state. The Grout Museum District in has examples of surveyor tools used by one of Waterloo, Iowa’s earliest settlers. |
1906 | Interactive | 1906 Voting Booth (360 Views) | In the late 1800s, mechanical voting devices were being introduced in U.S. elections. This 1906 model was one of the first to be used in Iowa. |
1938 | Photo | 1909 Maytag touring car | 1909 Maytag Touring Car on display at the Iowa State Fair, Des Moines, 1938. |
1862 | Photo | 6th Iowa Cavalry, 1862 | 6th Iowa Cavalry during the Civil War. Their headquarters were in Dakota. 1862. |
1975 | Video | A Big Leap for Iowans | Former US Ambassador to Cambodia Kenneth M. Quinn talks about Iowans welcoming refugees from Southeast Asia in 1975. |
Early to Mid 1900's | Video | A Good Horse Made All the Difference | The planting, cultivating and harvesting of crops were dependent on a good horse. |
1979 | Video | A Legacy Continues | Former chief of the Bureau of Refugee Services Wayne Johnson talks about the roles former Iowa Governor Robert Ray and other Iowans played in helping refugees in 1979. These earlier events laid the foundation for future refugee efforts. |
ca. 1910 | Photo | A man stands in the doorway of a sod home on his farmstead | A man stands in the doorway of a sod home on his farmstead. Due to a lack of trees many settlers to the prairie had little choice but to build homes made of sod until other building materials could be delivered. ca. 1910. |