Michael Plummer of the State Historical Society of Iowa joined Talk of Iowa to help us plan our summer road trips by sharing what makes Iowa's historical sites special.
“At the times that they came under state ownership, they were determined to be of high historical significance, and each of them kind of touches on a different piece of Iowa history," Plummer said. "So when taken as a whole, you really get to understand kind of the broad arcs of history that have influenced this state.”
Plum Grove
Plum Grove is the retirement home of Robert Lucas, Iowa’s first territorial governor. Burlington was the capitol of Iowa when he began his term, but that capitol moved to Iowa City by the end of his tenure.
“He was a person who wanted to remain close to the political heartbeat of the state, and so that's where he chose to build his retirement home," said Plummer.
The house was built in 1845 and the Lucas family lived there until 1866.
The Johnson County Historical Society works with the State Historical Society of Iowa to manage the site. Their tour guides explain the history of the grove, how the home was constructed and what life was like at the location back in the 1800s.
There are several “Games in the Grove” events scheduled at the site through the summer and fall that invite children to play with historic toys like pick up sticks, hoop and stick, ball and cup and stilts.
Montauk
Another historic governor's home is located in Clermont.
"As a Historic Sites Manager, I'm not allowed to have a favorite historic site, but I will say that the drive from Des Moines to Montauk is probably my favorite drive when I'm visiting a historic site, because it passes through kind of central Iowa, relatively flat farmland, rolling hills up into Iowa's Driftless region," said Plummer. "It's just a lights out, beautiful drive."
The estate on a hill was home to Iowa's 13th governor, William Larrabee. The Larrabee family lived there from 1874 through the 1960s. The house is furnished with all of their original belongings, including art they collected and the governor's desk. The state acquired the property in 1976, not long after the family left.
"Montauk is one of a couple of our sites where when you visit, you kind of feel like the family is just out running errands or something like that. I mean, you can really still feel their presence there today," Plummer said.
There are also two satellite properties down the hill.
"One of them we call the Clermont Museum, and that's where we house the artifacts, the objects, the collections acquired by the Larrabee family in the in their world travel," he said. "So it really tells a story, not only of the family and their travels, but what the world was like in the late 19th century."
The other is the Union Sunday School, which was led for years by Larrabee and his wife. The couple ordered a Kimball Company organ that is still used in concerts today.
Matthew Edel Blacksmith Shop
Matthew Edel was a German immigrant and blacksmith. In 1800 he moved to Haverhill in Marshall County and started his business there. His shop was focused on serving the nearby farms, with projects like repairing wagons, shoeing horses, and repairing farm implements. He was also artistic. Some iron crosses he made can still be found in cemeteries across the state.
When Edel died, his shop was kept as he left it.
"His family put a padlock on the blacksmith shop and walked away from it," Plummer said. "And so, when it came under state ownership in the 1980s, it was really a time capsule, not only of what a typical small-town blacksmith did and how they operated, but, because everything was where the Edel family left it, where Matthew Edel left it, you really get to understand this man's mind."
American Gothic House
One of the most iconic American paintings is Grant Wood's American Gothic. While the painting is hung in the Art Institute of Chicago, the simple white house in the background of that painting is located in Wapello County.
Of course, this location is a great place to pose for a photo. You can head next door to the visitors center to learn more about the history of the 1880s house and Wood's life.
Abbie Gardner Sharp Cabin
Following tensions and treaty restrictions between European-American settlers and the Dakota Indian nation, a conflict erupted in Arnolds Park, where 33 settlers were killed and four were taken captive.
Abbie Gardner was one of the captives who was later set free. She moved to Hampton, Iowa, to start her own family, but came back later in life to purchase her family's cabin. Gardner open it as one of the state's first tourist attractions, where shared her experience with visitors.
Toolesboro Mounds
Traveling even further back in Indigenous history on what's now Iowa, these burial mounds in Wapello came from the Havana Hopewell people.
"The Havana Hopewell people were sort of in the central Midwest, so Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa," Plummer said. "And they also shared a common set of cultural practices, including where their villages were situated, but kind of most iconically for them were their burial mounds, sort of large conical burial mounds."
Two of the largest mounds are visible from the welcome center.
"When we talk about Toolesboro Mounds, we're talking 2,000 years ago," Plummer said. "These were people that were there at the site between 200 and 500 A.D., and that length of history, just every once in a while, when I think about it, just kind of blows my mind."
Blood Run National Historic Landmark
There is no physical landmark at this site in Lyon County, but for hundreds of years the land was a village site, a trading center and a ceremonial site for people of the Oneota culture.
"It is a landscape, and the reason is because the cultural resources, the significant cultural resources of that site, are all buried underground," Plummer said. "They're archeological resources."
According to the State Historical Society of Iowa, the land was inhabited from 900 A.D. to 1720 A.D. and was a major trading site from about 1500 to 1700.
"It's a beautiful landscape situated in some rolling bluff land along the Big Sioux River," Plummer said. "And we have walking trails ... that just kind of lead you through the site and point out some significant features there."
To hear more this conversation, listen to Talk of Iowa, hosted by Charity Nebbe. Samantha McIntosh produced this episode.
