River Town

I grew up in a river town, but the fact was such a natural part of my childhood it never became a point of distinction in my stories. It’s only in recent years I’ve come to realize we took the river for granted. We accepted it as naturally as one accepts the existence of trees. It was just there. The following photos are a trip down memory lane.

Vehicles traveling north on highway 65 entered town underneath a railroad viaduct, then jigged a precarious ‘S’ jog to the left before heading in straight line to points north. If the vehicles managed the ‘S’ jog safely, (sometimes trucks carrying watermelons and eggs didn’t), they crossed over one of the high concrete bridge spanning the Iowa River.

The 70 foot high limestone cliffs near the dam gradually diminished until the river banks were at water level on the far side of town.



















We hiked, picnicked and gathered wild flowers on the river banks, swam in the river water during the summers and ice skated on the frozen river in the winter.














The above photos are of the library, the Princes Café, the Metropolitan Opera House and Movie Theater, and the High School.

The Band Shell in the city park, the Post Office, and the ice house

There were Friday night concerts in the Band Shell during the summer. We watched Ice being cut from the frozen river in the winter time. I earned nickels and dimes running errands to and from the Post Office.