On December 28th, 1864, President James Polk signed a bill making Iowa the 29th state in the United States of America. This year, 2021, Iowa will hit a major milestone - 175 years of statehood.
Although native peoples had lived in the territory for thousands of years prior, and European explorers and traders had been in the territory since the late 17th century, the first official white settlement in Iowa began in 1833 with the Black Hawk Purchase. Most of this group was family units who had traveled through and lived in other states first, as Americans attempted to settle the west. Just as these new settlers traversed to Iowa from other locations, many would continue on farther west after a short time.
Settlers that chose to stay quickly learned that the environment in Iowa was different from what they knew. Unliked the heavily timbered land in the east, most of territory, expect for near rivers and stream where trees grew plentifully, was tall grassland and prairie. Settlers could usually find enough wood for housing, but some had to build sod houses and most had to utilize prairie grasses, corn cobs, and animal dropping for fuel.
The railroads followed the settlers in the mid-1800’s. This allowed not only for people to come and go but for easier access to goods from other places as well as the ability to market local goods, namely corn, wheat, beef, and pork, to other locations. The completion of the railroad indicated economic change for the settlers of Iowa. On top of the production of food, settlers began working in manufacturing now that they were able to easily ship supplies in and goods out.
Once settlers had stable work the population began to grow. With this growth was the establishment of schools and churches. Of course, the oldest post-secondary school established in Iowa is our own Loras College, founded in 1839 by Bishop Mathias Loras in the settlement of Dubuque. While other religions took prominence across Iowa, Dubuque became the hub for Catholicism. Bishop Loras assisted in setting up many of the Catholic churches in the region and worked to attract priests and nuns to come live on the frontier.
In 1864, Iowa achieved statehood. From this time forward the state continued to attract many settlers. To learn about Iowa’s history, check out the display just inside the entrance to the library. Learn about our wonderful state and the achievements of Iowans throughout history. You can also find information online here.
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