Telling Iowa's Stories: Our Recent Winterset Features

From the famed Bridges of Madison County to the birthplace of America’s favorite cowboy, we have enjoyed spotlighting the stories in and around Winterset. Take a look at some of our recent stories from this picture-perfect small town nestled in the rolling hills of Madison County. As Iowa’s storyteller, we’re excited to showcase communities throughout the state, and we want you to see how we’ve been in neighborhoods near you. Let’s take a closer look at all the interesting elements of this vibrant Iowa town.

Road Trip Iowa

Our new travel series Road Trip Iowa visited a number of Winterset stops in its inaugural season last year, from the John Wayne Museum to the Bridges of Madison County. Watch features and full episodes of this program on the PBS app or YouTube.

PepperHarrow Farm

Visit PepperHarrow Farm’s scenic rolling hills and colorful flower fields.

John Wayne Birthplace and Museum

The John Wayne Birthplace and Museum celebrates the life of America’s favorite cowboy.

The Bridges of Madison County

Built over a century ago, there’s a lot to learn about Madison County’s covered bridges.

Iowa Quilt Museum and The Iowa Theater

The Iowa Theater and Iowa Quilt Museum bring arts and culture to Winterset’s City Square.

Pammel Park and Middle River County Park

Explore the natural beauty of Iowa at Pammel State Park and Middle River County Park.

Transcript

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[ Gunfire ]

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Downes: There's no greater figure in our culture,

a lasting figure, than John Wayne.

The boys wanted to be him.

The women wanted to be with him.

He was just an appealing guy.

Kohlsdorf: Born in Winterset on May 26, 1907,

Marion Robert Morrison became known

around the world by another name --

John Wayne.

He was one of the most famous film actors of all time,

and his roots began in Iowa.

Today, the Duke's hometown remains a steward of his legacy

through the John Wayne Birthplace Museum.

Downes: A great writer from The Chicago Tribune

described this once as a fan's museum,

and I don't disagree with that at all.

Some forward-looking members of our community

realized that his birthplace home --

they identified it by talking to neighbors

and going through historical records

and thought this might be a great idea to establish it

as John Wayne birthplace and open it for tours.

We estimate that it was built in the early 1880s.

It was no doubt a kit house that you would order from a catalog.

That particular house might have cost $1,000 brand new in 1880.

People are surprised at the size of it and that it's preserved.

Originally, it was just a house.

And that was quite moving for a lot of people.

Occasionally, some people came in crying

because of their love for John Wayne, and it was love.

There's no other word for it.

They often complained that the facility was too small,

that they wished there was more to see.

In 2008,

we launched a campaign to build the museum

that we're sitting in today.

Inside the museum, you're going to see items

like John Wayne's personal automobile,

a 1972 Pontiac station wagon.

Not a movie star car at all,

but it's built for comfort and safety.

People are moved by that.

You'll find movie wardrobes, scripts, artwork, posters.

They're going to see artworks that reflect how he's remembered

and revered so many years, decades after his passing,

aside from the artifacts

that they're going to see that they maybe

have never seen before.

They will get a sense of him.

We don't do a lot of interpreting here.

I think we let John Wayne interpret himself.

We don't have to tell our visitors

what you're supposed to think.

Just give it to them.

Since they're here, they probably already know

what they think of John Wayne.

The fact that they made the effort to be here

from around the world.

Kohlsdorf: Although Wayne and his family left Winterset

when he was only 3 years old,

the city continues to celebrate the life and legacy

of this Western icon.

His modest first home,

seated next to the idyllic Town Square

embodies the classically American personality

the Duke was known for.

Downes: You can only be born in one place,

and I think it tells a great story

that sometimes the most influential

and memorable people can come from the smallest places

in the middle of the country.

♪♪

FIND Iowa

One of our Iowa PBS Education brands, FIND Iowa is all about taking you on a virtual field trip of the state. While this program is intended to be used for grades 2-5, the visits host Abby Brown goes on are fun for all ages. Part of this initiative involved visiting all 99 counties to showcase educational stories from every part of the state.

99 Counties of Iowa: Madison

As part of the Iowa PBS Education team’s journey across the state, their stop in Madison County took them to Pammel State Park to look at the only tunnel for a highway in Iowa.

Transcript

[Abby Brown] Iowa is home to some pretty

well-known bridges. But come with me and explore this hidden gem,

where visitors go through a path that was once blocked by nature, instead of over it.

The covered bridges of Madison County have been the setting for famous books,

movies, and festivals.

These bridges reach across streams and creeks so that people can get from one side to the other.

Madison County offers another way to get around Mother Nature's creations: a tunnel.

Near the town of Winterset, Pammel State Park is a beautiful area to hang out,

play outside, and enjoy nature.

Long ago, around the time Iowa first became a state, William Harmon and his sons dug a

small tunnel through a tall area of rock so that water could pass through from the

Middle River to a sawmill. Much later the tunnel was expanded to be big enough to allow cars to pass through.

And today, it's big enough and strong enough for two cars to pass through.

(honk, honk)

For safety, some cars honk their horns before

going through to let anyone inside know they're coming.

Because about half of the landscape in Iowa is pretty flat, a hill with

a tunnel is a rare sight. But nature and all its beauty is quite common,

especially at Pammel State Park, and this tunnel leads the way to some awesome views.

You can also hike on a trail above the tunnel and see the Middle River.

Building bridges and tunnels is just one way that people adapted their environments to get

work done. Can you think of other ways that tunnels and bridges can make our lives easier?

Every county in Iowa has a story that could echo for generations.

Thanks for exploring Madison County with me.

Crafts From the Past

Whether it be hobbies from childhood, crafts we associate with a parent or grandparent, or hands-on skills long forgotten, there is a fascination with reprising lost techniques as we explore new pastimes. Crafts From the Past introduces hobbies from decades past, offering a primer to various techniques by experienced Iowa makers.

Stained Glass Making

Sara King, a glass artist at Red Thread Upcycles in Winterset, Iowa, showcases her decades of talent to offer audiences a primer on how to get started with making their own stained glass.

Transcript

I love working with stained glass.

It's so beautiful.

It changes with the light of the day as the weather

changes outside.

It just brings me a lot of joy.

♪♪

I am Sara King from Red Thread

Upcycles in Winterset, Iowa.

I started doing stained glass about 20 years ago.

I had a friend show me in college.

Years later when my kids were little I started

playing around with it again during their

naptimes.

My uncle found out that I was working with stained

glass and coincidentally he had been in charge of a

church renovation and he had a bunch of excess

glass that was headed to the dump and he saved a

bunch of boxes for me.

And so I had a ton of material to work with and

play around with.

So I really credit him for helping me get my business

started.

Sara: And today I'm going to demonstrate some basic

stained glass making techniques using the

copper foil method.

The project we're making today is this cardinal sun

catcher.

The first step is going to be putting down a

protective surface so that we don't damage our

countertop with any chemicals or solder.

You're going to need something a little more

substantial than newspaper.

You can use an old corkboard or piece of

plywood.

Sara: We're going to take a look at our glass.

I have red for our cardinal.

We're going to determine which is the smoothest

side.

That will be the side we're tracing our pattern

on.

Now, the pattern I will be using is one that I've

used for quite a while.

It is one that I have hand drawn.

Sara: Trace a line, they stay on better while I'm

working with the glass, but then wipe off easily

at the end with alcohol wipes.

I trace the outline of the cardinal first and then do

the interior lines.

♪♪

Sara: I'll find my goggles because we'll be

doing some cutting.

♪♪

Sara: There we go.

Here's our cutter.

It's a pretty basic cutter.

But when you cut, you go from one side to the

other, applying steady kind of moderate pressure

in one smooth continuous stroke.

You don't want to pick your cutter up and you

don't want to push too hard otherwise you can

break your glass before you get to the other side.

And if you score too lightly then it may not

break along the line that you want it to.

♪♪

Sara: I like using my right hand and my left

hand kind of as a guide.

♪♪

Sara: Okay, and then you're going to use

the end of your cutter, this ball right here, and

you're going to tap along the line you just scored.

♪♪

Sara: Flip it over.

You're going to tap the other side.

And if we do it correctly, it will come right apart.

♪♪

Sara: Just like so.

♪♪

Sara: And we're going to use that same

cutting method to do the rest of the pieces of our

cardinal.

For smaller pieces, you can use your pliers flat

side up right next to the line.

Whoops!

And just crack just like that.

♪♪

Sara: Okay, now we're ready to smooth our

edges down with a file.

Start with the head.

By filing the edges, that allows the copper to

better adhere to the edges.

♪♪

Sara: I have filed all of my pieces, all of

my edges are smooth, I washed all of my pieces to

get the dust and oil off the pieces from my

previous work.

And the next step is to copper foil tape the

edges.

You take a piece and you pull out some foil, pull

away the back.

You're going to put your glass right in the center

of your tape the best you can.

And you're going to pull the tape taught and you're

just going to wrap that right around the edge of

the piece.

Press the tape down on either side of the glass.

Pinch it down with your fingers.

Sara: Next you take your burnishing tool, your FID,

and you're going to press all the way around the

edge and you're going to ensure that that copper

foil tape sticks nicely to the glass.

You're going to lay it down and press all the way

around the edge of the glass getting a really

nice seal, kind of careful with the tape that you

don't end up putting any tiny rips in it.

Flip the piece over and do the same on the other

side.

Sara: We are all ready to solder.

The first thing we want to do is put on a glove.

I usually only wear one for the hand that I'll be

handling the sun catcher with to keep chemicals off

of it.

I prefer not to wear one on my right hand, the hand

I solder with.

Now is the time we get out our flux.

It is a chemical that helps the solder stick to

the copper tape.

We're going to start just by adding a bit of flux to

the joints because that's where we're going to start

with our solder.

We're just going to tack the joints down and then

we'll go back and solder all the lines.

Sara: I like to use the iron to grab little bits

of the solder off and dab it right onto my project.

Okay, now that all the joints are tacked down, if

I was to bump the sun catcher the pieces won't

come part.

I'm going to go back now and fully flux all the

copper tape and we can start soldering all our

lines now.

Make sure you use plenty of solder.

I dropped some solder onto the glass and that's okay,

I can pick it right back up with my soldering iron.

Sara: Make sure to reapply flux as you need to.

And you can go over your soldering lines as many

times as you'd like, as long as you keep applying

flux, to make it as smooth as you want.

Let's smooth this out one last little bit.

♪♪

Sara: We'll flip it over and do the same

thing on the other side.

♪♪

Sara: You can hold him up and see if there's

any spots you missed, any lumpy spots you want to

take care of before you turn your iron off.

But he looks pretty good.

So I'll go get him washed up and we'll take a look

at the final product.

♪♪

Sara: I scrubbed him up with a little dish

soap and warm water.

I didn't submerge him or anything.

I just had him under the running water, and I

didn't scrub too vigorously because I don't

want now my soldered edges to pull away from the

glass.

I wanted them to stay nice and sealed.

I added a string so now he's all ready to hang in

my kitchen window.

Sara: Stained glass is a really great hobby.

Don't be afraid to dive right in.

I know there's lots of other videos online and

resources.

It's a great hobby.

♪♪

Share Your Stories

We hope you’ve enjoyed seeing our recent Dubuque stories - what other tales would you like to see us uncover in this part of the state? Reach out to us via our contact form or chat with us on social media with all your story ideas!