Cedar Falls Historical Society

06/18/2026

Cedar Falls families--save the date!

Our annual Family Story Time will take place one month from today on Saturday, July 18th, from 10:00-11:00 am. Join us in the Victorian House classroom (308 W 3rd St,) to hear Alistair's Time Machine, and to sing songs, make crafts, complete a scavenger hunt, and explore the past in our Kids Corner Time Machine.

It's FREE and open to the public, so come on by!

06/17/2026

In 2026, we are returning to vocabulary words that have to do with our annual exhibit theme. This year, we will focus on words about TIME.

The month's word is JUBILEE.

06/16/2026

On September 20 at 2:00 pm, Dr. Lindsey Row-Heyveld will give a talk titled “How to Read a Graveyard” as part of our "Victorian Parlor Series" for 2026. In the months leading up to the program, we are featuring some of our local cemeteries. This month’s featured cemetery is Fairview Cemetery, located at 1350 W 12th St.

Fairview Cemetery was established in 1865. The first burial was Marion Bancroft, who passed away in 1855 but was moved to Fairview in 1865. The cemetery began on the outskirts of town. Cedar Falls later expanded and filled in between the downtown and UNI, so today the cemetery is surrounded by homes and is centrally located.

As you walk through Fairview, you will notice many names that are well known in our community’s history, including Melendy, Seerley, Hearst, and others. An obelisk marks the burial location of residents of the Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home, many of whom died in a measles epidemic. There is also a lot for Western Home residents, many of whom died in the 1920s and 1930s. The Dayton family mausoleum is the only mausoleum located in Fairview.

The cemetery includes many examples of family plots, which feature one large family monument surrounded by smaller individual markers. Fairview also features a memorial park section, where the stones are all flat. This was a popular style of cemetery in the 20th century, as opposed to the more elaborate monuments of the Victorian era.

For more information about Fairview Cemetery, check out this Cedar Falls Channel 15 documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsbL7-aEwBY

06/15/2026

Week 1, Day 1 of Summer at the Schoolhouse 2026 (S@SH 26) went by in a flash--after all, Time Flies When You're Having Fun! 😃😎

It's always exciting, after months of planning and preparing, to see our teachers and students hard at work in our historic one-room schoolhouse! Today after getting to know each other and the program a little better, students learned about Time and Time Capsules (they will be putting one together on Friday). They also played with old-fashioned toys at recess, and conducted an experiment to see who could best guess when a minute had passed. ⌚️⏱️⏲️⏰🕰️⌛️


Cedar Falls Downtown District Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area . 💕🍎✏️📚☀️

06/14/2026

As we take a closer look at the history of Cedar Falls this year, we will be sharing snippets from Peter Melendy's book, “Cedar Falls, Iowa: 1843-1893.”

Today's excerpt (with errors and outdated language) is from pages 49 and 50, and concerns early education in Cedar Falls.

"Early History:
A log school house in Iowa at this time is a rarity. No benches made of puncheons resting on pins or legs driven into two-inch auger holes. No writing desks or benches made (also of puncheons,) with arms driven into auger holes bored into the logs beneathe the windows, as they were called. A part of a log cut out on either side with panes of 8x10 glass set in, or, just as likely as not, the opening covered over with greased paper. All these things are changed now. Their places are supplied with handsome frame or brick structures.

First School and School Cabin:
The first school established in Black Hawk county and Cedar Falls, was a private one in 1847. It was taught by Mrs. Jackson Taylor. The school house was a log cabin, with a puncheon floor, clap-boards riven out of slabs for a roof, with mud and stick chimney in one end of the cabin, with earthen hearth, with a fire-place wide enough and deep enough to take in a four foot back log; such is the discription of our first school house.

The log cabin stood upon the lot where Rev. Mr. Adams now resides on the corner of Main and Thirteenth streets. Mrs. Taylor had for her first scholars among the six in attendance, Mrs. Joseph Chase, and her sister, Mrs. Lydia Waterbury, both of these ladies residing in Cedar Falls at this time....

In 1853, a school district was formed at Cedar Falls, the first in the county. The school board was S. A. Bishop, J. M. Overman, (both gentlemen still with us,) and E. D. Adams. A school house was built by subscription, the finest in the country and was located on the corner of Main and Fifth streets, where the Baptist church now stands. We give a cut of the same elsewhere. The building was frame, 16x20, with a belfry on it, the bell which now calls the children to their work in the West school building. It was the first bell ever heard in the Cedar Valley, and was bought by the ladies of the settlement from proceeds of a festival dinner given February 22, 1854.

The little school house on the hill had served its day and generation and a new and better one must be built. Consequently, the first steps to this end were taken July 6, 1863, by the citizens. The old school house was sold and moved to the suburbs of the city, and is now used as a dwelling house....

A correspondent has dubed our city as Iowa's school town. Cedar Falls stands next to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa in her educational advantages, which latter place has the appellation of the Athens of Iowa. One has said, it is not merely local pride that prompts us to observe that Cedar Falls ought to be proud of its schools; it is a well founded conviction, that the character of the school work will stand the closest tests. Then we welcome to our community those who are seeking the best school advantages for their children....

(MORE ON CF SCHOOLS NEXT MONTH!)

Image:
Cedar Falls first school house, 1852, from Peter Melendy's book, “Cedar Falls, Iowa: 1843-1893,” courtesy of the Cedar Falls Historical Society

06/13/2026

In the spirit of the theme of our new exhibit, "A Cedar Falls Time Capsule," we are going to take a look at art through the centuries featuring the concept of Time.

Here is "Reloj y teléfono" ("Clock and Telephone") by Rufino Tamayo, 1925, an oil painting from the collection of Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City, Mexico. Themes recognized in the painting include the dawning of the modern age (depicted by the telephone), and transitions and time (depicted by the alarm clock).

The image is in the public domain.

06/12/2026

We continue with Flashback Friday, where we dip into Cedar Falls High School yearbooks from the past 12 decades. Today's post is from the 1966 issue, with a photo of the concert band. 🐯🐾❤️🤍🖤🎼🎺🎷🥁

Were you in band in high school? What was your best band memory?

Cedar Falls High School Cedar Falls Community School District

And don't forget--we collect Cedar Falls school yearbooks--High School, Junior High, and even Elementary. We are particularly seeking yearbooks for 2000s. Please call Julie if you are interested in donating yours!

Image:
Cedar Falls High School Concert Band

Cedar Falls High School
Tenth and Division Street
Cedar Falls, Iowa
1966 -- Volume 61

06/11/2026

Because of her lonely and unhappy childhood, and despite hating being pregnant and not being particularly fond of babies, Queen Victoria was determined that she had Prince Albert would have lots of children. Take a look at this article about Queen Victoria's family. It's an interesting read! 🤓

https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/queen-victorias-children/

Posts like these are intended to foster an understanding of the people who lived during the Victorian Era, in a loose connection with our Victorian House Museum.

Queen Victoria had nine children – four boys and five girls born between 1840 and 1857 – with her husband, Prince Albert. But what was Victoria like as a mother and did she really hate being pregnant? Here, Denys Blakeway explores the queen's relationship with her family…

06/10/2026

Today is the birthday of Maurice Sendak, American author and illustrator of children's books. Born June 10th, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York his father was a dressmaker, while his mother stayed home and took care of him and his two older siblings.

Sendak first published illustrations came out in 1947 with the book Atomics For The Millions, which was a popular science book at the time. However most people know Sendak for his work on Where The Wild Things Are, which was published in 1963. His illustrations in this work achieved international recognition. The book received one of the highest honors in American Children’s Literature-- the Caldecott Medal--and was eventually adapted into an opera and a movie.

Sendak created many other works, some of which include Kenny’s Window, In The Night Kitchen, Seven Little Monsters, Outside Over There, and My Brother’s Book (which was published after his death).

Sendak made an extraordinary impact on children's literature during his career. He has two elementary schools named after him, an Honorary Doctorate from Princeton, and currently holds the record for "the most checked out book from the Brooklyn Public Library," the book being Where The Wild Things Are.

Maurice Sendak died in 2012, five years after his partner, Eugene David Glynn.

by Lindsay Nieland

Image:
Maurice Sendak's illustrations, courtesy of the Official Maurice Sendak Website

06/09/2026

Did you know that today (June 9th) is National Helen Day?
We have a Helen on our Board of Directors--Helen Pearce!
Here's a shout out to Helen to say thanks for all she does for our organization and others in the Cedar Valley--Happy Helen Day, Helen@pearce1751 ! 💕