Then and Now

The City of Five Seasons, formerly known as the Parlor City, is shown in this book as it developed from a small but thriving community into the metropolis that it is today. The railroads, roads, and waterways leading into and out of Cedar Rapids allowed the city to grow and prosper. The pioneers and early leaders, with great vision and foresight, planned and developed the area, including its wide downtown streets that allowed for easy access into the city. Photographs taken in the past are compared with photographs taken today from the same location, allowing us to see what and where changes have been made.

Once called the Parlor City and now called the City of Five Seasons, Cedar Rapids has expanded and flourished since hundreds of passenger and freight trains first rolled through town in the early 1900s. With thoughtful and sensible planning, including the development of wide streets which allowed the city to grow, business pioneers became successful. Cedar Rapids became a regional hub that featured railroads, highways, and waterways. This book documents Cedar Rapids' growth by pairing old and new photographs to provide a striking comparative perspective. Cedar Rapids: Then & Now reveals how the city advanced from a humble settlement into a thriving metropolitan community.

Consistently ranked as one of the top 10 cities in America to raise a family and own a business, Des Moines began as a frontier fort and pioneer village. It soon became a center for government, commerce, finance, and insurance. The community has gone through many transformations over the years but still retains the character and quality that makes it an example to the nation.

Daily change in any city can be difficult to recognize.  Although everyone notices when a building is razed, it is more challenging to identify the subtle alterations occurring regularly which make a city slightly different than it was the day before.  It is for precisely this reason the authors have decided to capture the changing face of Dubuque through a compelling selection of over 80 vintage images, each paired with its modern counterpart. Older residents will be able to identify many of the long-gone structures pictured in this volume, but newer arrivals will uncover a Dubuque they never knew existed.  Public institutions, parks, homes, and entire blocks have been altered, and from the birth of photography to the present, these changes are documented in this volume.  The physical contrasts between Dubuque's residents today and those of long ago are immediately apparent.  Fashions and jobs are always evolving, but the similarities outnumber the differences.  The people of Dubuque are, as always, hard-working and self-reliant, and they remain proud of their heritage and their town.