Iowa City, Iowa

City: Iowa City

County: Johnson

State: Iowa

Lat/Long: 41.6500, -91.5167

Located on the Iowa River, Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County. It was the second capital of the Iowa Territory and the first capital of the state of Iowa. The Legislative Assembly of the Iowa Territory created Iowa City with an act passed on January 21, 1839, to move the capital from Burlington. Commissioners selected for the purpose found a location for the city in May and surveyed and laid out the town in June and July. The Legislative Assembly incorporated Iowa City as a town in 1840. Iowa City became the official capital of the Iowa Territory in December 1841. When Iowa became a state in 1846, Iowa City remained the capital, and the town experienced an extended period of growth and prosperity. In February 1847, Iowa City became home to the State University of Iowa. In January 1853, the Iowa General Assembly incorporated it as a city. Iowa City remained the capital until 1857, when the Iowa General Assembly moved it to Des Moines.

"An Act to Locate the Seat of Government of the Territory of Iowa, and for Other Purposes," 21 January 1839, The Statute Laws of the Territory of Iowa (1839), 435-37; Benjamin F. Shambaugh, Iowa City: A Contribution to the Early History of Iowa (Iowa City: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1893), 17-36, 57, 107-108, 110; History of Johnson County, Iowa (Iowa City, IA: n.p., 1883), 633-45; "An Act to Locate and Establish a State University," 25 February 1847, Laws of Iowa (1847), 188-89.