Vanishing Original Prairie Area in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Authors

George R. Bowne

Document Type

Research

Abstract

Approximately 55 years ago, in 1889, W. J. McGee, in a study of primeval forests and swamps of northern Iowa, compiled a map from original records of the U. S. General Land Office by B. J. Tarbert. On this map a wet prairie area in Twp. 83N, Range 7W, Section 15 was shown. This prairie area is in the vicinity of Mound Farm in northeast Cedar Rapids, Linn County. Due to an extensive home building plan the area is being destroyed. This natural area covers approximately 40 acres. It is bounded on the north by Maplewood Drive, and on the south by a north-sloping hill. The western boundary is a meandering intermittent creek. On the opposite side grow small trees and shrubs such as hawthorr1, wild plum, wild crab apple, and wild grape. The Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad runs north and south along the entire eastern edge of the prairie. The area was originally part of the Greene Farm (an early Cedar Rapids pioneer) and due to its geographical location the area has been left uncultivated.

Publication Date

1945

Journal Title

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

52

Issue

1

First Page

101

Last Page

106

Copyright

©1945 Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Bowne, George R. (1945) "Vanishing Original Prairie Area in Cedar Rapids, Iowa," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 52(1), 101-106.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol52/iss1/13