Iowa City, IA

Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 29,893 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa.

The city's history can be traced back to 1837 when John Johnston settled on a tract of land east of the Des Moines River and north of Fort Des Moines. In 1839 Johnston sold his property to James K. Polk, who named it Polk City after his president. In 1841 Polk sold the town site to John W. Geary and Andrew Wylie for $1,000; they also named it Gearyville in honor of their friend and political ally, U.S. Senator John Wylie from Pennsylvania. The first business in Gearyville was opened by Joseph Coolidge on April 3, 1841; he operated a general store and post office with the help of his brother-in-law Samuel Kirkwood as well as James Hogg as clerk.[2]

In 1842 William Clayton purchased land north and west of Polk City from Andrew Wylie; this became known as Clayton Township.[3] In 1850 Clayton platted out what would become known as "the Village" – today's downtown Iowa City – and built a sawmill, gristmill, hotel (the Clayton House), blacksmith shop, wagon shop, bakery (the Bakewell House), bank ( Clayton National Bank), courtroom (built in 1851), fire station (1852), police station (1853), cemetery (1854), library (1857) and several homes.[4] On October 16th that same year Clayton held an election to select a mayor[5] which resulted in William Burnham being elected into office; he served until May 14th 1865 when he was captured during the American Civil War.[6] On November 7th 1865 Charles Nourse was elected into office[7]; he served until December 31st 1870 when he resigned due to ill health.[8] On February 2nd 1871 George Sibley was elected into office[9]; he served until December 31st 1880 when he resigned due to ill health again.[10] On January 6th 1886 Hiram Jellison was elected into office[11]; he served until December 31st 1890 when he resigned due to ill health again.[12] On January 5th 1893 Ainsworth Haskell was elected into office[13]; serving until his death on September 25th 1915 at age 66 years old after only 8 months in office.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23].

On March 12th 1898 The University Of Iowa was chartered by Congress with James Larkin serving as its first president; classes began on September 26th 1898 with an enrollment of 48 students,[24] making it one of America's earliest universities.[25] Today UI has over 27 thousand students,[26], making it one of America's largest universities by enrollment size – second only to Harvard University among Ivy League schools – while maintaining its commitment to teaching undergraduate level courses through its residential colleges: Carver College Of Medicine And Public Health,[27], Hawkeye Community College,[28], Simpson College,[29], Wellman Center For Health Sciences,[30], Winthrop College,[31], Whitman College,[32], and Zablocki School Of Business & Economics [33].

Iowa City is also home to two professional sports teams: The Iowa Cubs baseball team [34], who play their home games at Principal Park [35]; while The Iowa Energy ice hockey team [36](formerly called The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena [37].