Driving Around Downtown Cedar Rapids, IA in 4k Video

Filmed on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, I drive around Cedar Rapids, Iowa to see what’s going on. Cedar Rapids is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County. The location of present-day Cedar Rapids was in the territory of the Fox and Sac tribes at the time of European American settlement. The first white settler on the site of the future city was Osgood Shepherd, who built a log cabin (which he called a tavern) in 1837 or 1838 next to the Cedar River at what is now the corner of First Avenue and First Street Northeast. Shepherd was a squatter who claimed the land without legal title and was also a reputed ne’er-do-well, who, if he was not a horse thief himself, definitely consorted with them. The true founders of the city were George Greene, Nicholas Brown, and a few others. Brown had experience as a miller and Greene had surveyed much of eastern Iowa, so both saw the value of the spot Shepherd had claimed. It was right next to the rapids—a prime spot to build a mill—the last set of rapids on the river before the Cedar fed into the Iowa River, meaning that goods milled on the spot could be carried by boat down river to the Mississippi. In 1841, they formed a partnership that bought out Shepherd’s claim and platted out a town they called Rapids City. Brown immediately constructed a primitive dam and then built the town’s first mill. His crude dam soon washed away, prompting Greene to induce Alexander Ely, an engineer from Michigan, to build a proper dam that would create a millrace capable of powering several mills. The town was formally incorporated by the Iowa State Legislature on January 15, 1849 as Cedar Rapids, named for the rapids in the Cedar River (the river itself was named for the large number of red cedar trees that grew along its banks). The population was less than 400. The economic growth of Cedar Rapids increased in 1871 upon the founding of the Sinclair meatpacking company. The plant allowed for year-round meatpacking because ice could be harvested from the Cedar River in winter to chill an icehouse, and within a few years it became one of the largest factories of its kind in the country, employing 400 people. In 1873, the oatmeal mill that would ultimately become the flagship operation of the Quaker Oats Company - and the largest cereal mill in the world, was built. During the Iowa flood of 2008, the Cedar River reached a record high of feet on June 13, surpassing the 500-year flood plain. 1,126 city blocks were flooded, or more than 10 square miles, and 561 city blocks were severely damaged, on both banks of the Cedar River, comprising 14% of the city’s total area. The Mother Mosque of America, dedicated on June 16, 1934, is the longest standing mosque in North America. In 1972, another mosque was built and the original mosque was sold and fell into disrepair before being purchased in 1990 by the Islamic Council of Iowa and renovated. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Iowa flood of 2008 extensively damaged the basement, destroying many historic documents. Muslim presence in the area dates to 1895 when the first immigrants arrived from the Beqaa Valley in today’s Lebanon and Syria. Islamic Services of America was established in Cedar Rapids in 1975 and provides Halal Certification and supervision throughout the world. Cedar Rapids is one of the largest cities in the world for corn processing. The grain processing industry is Cedar Rapids’ most important sector, directly providing 4,000 jobs that pay on average $85,000, and also providing 8,000 indirectly. Fortune 500 company Collins Aerospace and trucking company CRST are based in Cedar Rapids, and Aegon has its United States headquarters there. A large Quaker Oats mill, one of the four that merged in 1901 to form Quaker Oats, dominates the north side of downtown. Other large companies that have facilities in Cedar Rapids include Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill, General Mills, Toyota Financial Services and Nordstrom. Cedar Rapids is nicknamed the “City of Five Seasons“, for the so-called “fifth season“, which is time to enjoy the other four. The symbol of the five seasons is the Tree of Five Seasons sculpture in downtown along the north river bank. The name “Five Seasons“ and representations of the sculpture appear throughout the city in many forms. As of the census of 2020, the population was 137,710. The racial makeup of the city was 77.8% White, 10.4% Black or African American, 2.7% Asian, 0.4% Pacific Islander, 0.3% Native American, 1.7% from other races, and 6.8% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 4.7% Hispanic or Latino of any race. The per capita income for the city is $26,370. About 6.3% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.5% of those under the age of 18 and 4.3% of those 65 or older. #driving #travel #drivingtour