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Cities Near Burlington, IA
Local city information for Burlington, IA
Burlington is a city in and the county seat of Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 30,847 at the 2000 census. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area including West Burlington, Iowa and Middletown, Iowa and Gulfport, Illinois. Burlington is the home of Snake Alley, the crookedest alley in the world, and has been called the Backhoe Capital of the World.
Prior to American settlement, the area was neutral territory for the Sac and Fox Indians, who called it "Shoquoquon" (Shok-ko-kon), meaning Flint Hills.
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson organized two parties of explorers to map the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis and Clark followed the Missouri River, while Lt. Zebulon Pike followed the Mississippi River. In 1805, Pike landed at the bluffs below Burlington and raised the United States Flag for the first time on Iowa soil and recommended the construction of a fort. The recommendation went unheeded.
The American Fur Company established a post in the area in 1829, but actual settlement began in 1833, shortly after the Black Hawk Purchase when Samuel (who also went by Simpson) White and David Tothero crossed the Mississippi River from Big Island. According to an account A.T. Andreas wrote in 1875, White erected a cabin in the area later platted to be Front Street between Court and High streets. Tothero went farther inland. Andreas called White and Doolittle the Romulus and Remus of their settlement, referring to the ancient heroes who founded Rome — another city surrounded by hills.
A few weeks later, William R. Ross crossed the Mississippi and established a general store. In November and December, he surveyed the settlement for White and Doolittle, and the following spring they allowed the purchaser of the first lot, John Gray, to rechristen the town. For $50, Gray named it after his hometown in Burlington Vermont.
In 1837, Burlington became the second territorial capital of the Wisconsin Territory. After the Iowa Territory was organized in the following year, Burlington became its first territorial capital. The government used "Old Zion," the first Methodist Church in Iowa (located near what is now Third and Washington streets), to conduct business of the day. Although this building no longer exists, a historical marker may be found at its site.
Iowa's nickname "The Hawkeye State" has its roots in Burlington. At Judge David Rorer's suggestion, publisher James G. Edwards changed
The Iowa Patriot newspaper's name to
The Hawk-Eye and Iowa Patriot in tribute to his friend Black Hawk. Rorer is said to have found the name in
The Last of the Mohicans while Edwards proposed the nickname to "...rescue from oblivian a momento , at least of the name of the old chief."
Burlington was a bustling river port in the steamboat era and home to the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The CB&Q (1848-1970) merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad (BN, 1970-1996), which in turn merged into the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF, 1997-present). Even today, one of the BNSF's main east-west lines crosses the Mississippi at Burlington.
Perhaps the most noted feature of the city skyline, are the number of church steeples that soar into the sky, the highest of which belongs to St. John's Cathedral, which sits high on a hill overlooking downtown Burlington, the steeple stands over 100 foot above the peaked roof of the cathedral, and has often been used by photographers to take panoramic vistas of the area. The only other structure that stands taller than the spire of the cathedral, is the central pier of the Great River Bridge, which soars over 320 feet above the Mississippi River.
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