Iowa photo thread (Des Moines, Davenport, Iowa City: live in, swimming, rich)

[primalclaws1974]

[primalclaws1974]

[DMRyan]

A few of the University of Iowa Campus:

[SharpHawkeye]

Great UI pics DMRyan. Too bad the riverfront is looking a little bit worse for the wear these days.

Also great Grinnell pics, primalclaws! Grinnell really is a unique little town!

[DMRyan]

A few of Council Bluffs, Iowa

[Northern Traveler]

The same pic I posted earlier near the Chichaqua bottoms, rural Northeast Polk - prettiest area of the county IMO.

[wowbaby]

ok i am ready to jump on a plane and come visit. these are great pics.

i have to say i dont think i have ever seen ANYWHERE the kind of blue that an iowa sky seems to be - WOW, breath taking!

thanks for sharing pics of your wonderful state with the rest of us!

[Northern Traveler]

Originally Posted by wowbaby

ok i am ready to jump on a plane and come visit. these are great pics.

i have to say i dont think i have ever seen ANYWHERE the kind of blue that an iowa sky seems to be - WOW, breath taking!

thanks for sharing pics of your wonderful state with the rest of us!

Haha, I will agree the Iowa scenery sets a stage for the sky!

[DMRyan]

I had a chance to spend some time at the Wildcat Den State Park in Muscatine County, visiting the beautiful Pine Creek Grist Mill. Eastern Iowa is so rich with history in comparison to the rest of the state and this is a small little piece of the State of Iowa I would recommend visiting at least once. A very peaceful setting to take in some fall foilage too. This park is located about 20 minutes south of downtown Davenport and about 15 minutes north of Muscatine, off of Highway 22.

Website link:
Pine Creek Grist Mill

History of the mill from the website:

Pine Creek Grist Mill, built in 1848, was actually the second grist mill built by Benjamin Nye. Nye is recognized as the first permanent settler of Muscatine County in southeast Iowa.
The mill was built of native lumber sawn at Nye's sawmill located nearby. Some hand-hewn timbers as large as 14"x14"x35' long were used in the post and beam construction. The flooring was native oak and original weather-boards were walnut. The mill was constructed at a cost of $10,000.
Coarse wheat flour was ground, packed in barrels and then shipped down the Mississippi River by steamboat (docked at the mouth of Pine Creek, one mile away) to St. Louis where it was sold to southern planters as rations for slaves. This trade stopped at the onset of the Civil War. However, many settlers from miles around continued to use the mill for their flour supplies.

Various families operated the mill until 1923. Over the years numerous improvements were made, including a large addition of flour storage. Power sources and machinery used in the mill included a large inside water wheel, power turbine, steam boiler, steam engine (originally believed to be from river boat), grist mill, and roller mill. Most of this machinery was left intact when the state of Iowa purchased the mill in 1927 for $8,750.

Pine Creek Schoolhouse:


Pine Creek Grist Mill:


The bridge on the right dated back to the 1860's.

[SharpHawkeye]

Some new Iowa City pics I've taken recently...
More and bigger on my Flickr page.

Looking south on Linn St from around Van Allen hall. Over the shoulders of the Irving Weber statue.


Looking east on Washington St, past the Senior Center and Ecumenical Towers, toward Gilbert St.


Looking west on College St toward downtown. Fun fact: the building on the right is now the Iowa City Bike Library.


One of my favorite little buildings in town, sandwiched between two new(er) apartment buildings.