Coralville

By Timothy Walch

Although Coralville is a lot like other small American cities, it is unique as the only community of that name in the United States. Located on the Iowa River, the name refers to the ancient coral reefs that are its geological bedrock. The river has always been a key aspect of Coralville's history, along with its proximity to Iowa City, the first capital of the Territory of Iowa and the home of the University of Iowa. Incorporated as a city in 1873, Coralville had few residents until the 1960s, when dynamic commercial and residential development brought substantial growth to the area. Today, Coralville is a city of industry, commerce, and hospitality. It is not surprising, therefore, that "Coralville Pride" is the city motto.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Mar 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781439650189

Timothy Walch

Timothy Walch is the director emeritus of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, a former trustee of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and a longtime member of the Iowa State Historical Records Advisory Board. Educated at the University of Notre Dame and Northwestern University, Dr. Walch is a frequent contributor to Iowa Heritage Illustrated, the quarterly magazine of the State Historical Society of Iowa.

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INTRODUCTION

In many ways, Coralville is just like other small cities in Iowa and the Midwest. It has a broad range of educational, cultural, and commercial enterprises; it is governed by a mayor and a city council, as well as a by city manager who directs a spectrum of city departments; and it is a community that looks to shape its own destiny and has done well by that goal. It is no idle boast that the community chose Coralville Pride as its city motto.

But, Coralville is also a city with a number of qualities that make it distinct, starting with the name itself. At first, one might assume that Coralville is a common name, that many communities in other states would share it. Surprisingly, however, there are only two Coralvilles in the world: one in Iowa and the other in France. In that sense, therefore, Coralville, Iowa, is unique in the United States.

The name was a reference to the geological formations that are the foundation of this community. It was during an 1866 visit to the University of Iowa that prominent Harvard geologist Louis Agassiz examined these formations and informed the university community that the rock was fossilized coral from the Devonian era, when Iowa was a vast inland sea. Taking advantage of this reference, local merchant Ezekiel Clark changed the name of his mill on the Iowa River to the Coral Mill and changed the name of the small settlement that adjoined it from Clarksville to Coralville. The name became official when the city was incorporated in 1873.

Incorporation did not lead to immediate growth and development. For the next three decades, from 1873 to 1903, the settlement was never occupied by more than a few hundred people. These settlers built modest homes and cabins and worked at the mills that were clustered at a bend in the Iowa River.

These first residents were a hardy lot. Clark and his partner Samuel Kirkwood operated a mill in the late 1840s, but for many years Coralville was just the dam, the mill, and a few houses—hardly a city. In 1856 and 1857, Coralville offered elemental hospitality to Mormon pioneers as they prepared themselves to walk 1,400 miles to Utah, but few of those Mormons chose to stay.

Other mills were constructed near the Coral Mill, and a few more settlers built homes and farms in the vicinity, but growth was slow in coming. T.R. Hackett and, later, Edward Koser and his family operated a general store near the mills, but there was little else in Coralville for many years thereafter. The US census reported only 150 citizens in Coralville as late as 1920, nearly 50 years after incorporation.

But, the past was not to be indicative of Coralville’s future. That having been said, only a cockeyed optimist would have predicted what was in store for this city over the next nine decades. From 1920 to 2010, the population of Coralville increased from 150 to nearly 19,000 residents. Indeed, the growth from 1940 to 1970 was extraordinary, with the number of new residents increasing more than sixfold during those years. Coralville was one of the fastest-growing communities in Iowa in the mid-20th century.

The reasons for this growth are evident in the historical trends that were sweeping the country during the decades after World War II. Veterans returning to civilian life wanted a college education, good jobs, and new homes for their families. The University of Iowa was a welcoming environment for the first two expectations, and home builders found the area a great place to build new homes. The result was a jump in campus enrollment, the establishment of new businesses and industries, and a home building boom in Coralville. Related to this was the fact that the University of Iowa and the new Veterans Administration hospital offered employment opportunities that also attracted new residents to Coralville.

Two other elements that affected Coralville during these decades were the completion of Interstate 80 and the American love affair with the automobile. Situated close to Interstate 80, Coralville became an ideal location to provide hospitality to cross-country travelers as well as to those who were attending university athletic events or consulting with doctors at the university hospital or the Veterans Administration Medical Center. By 1970, the Coralville landscape was dotted with economical motels and restaurants to serve tourists and residents alike. It is no surprise that the city chose to refer to itself as a hub of hospitality.

Over the next four decades, Coralville nurtured that image as well as a general entrepreneurial instinct to plan for future growth. Venture capitalists and other entrepreneurs found Coralville to be a welcoming environment for investment, resulting in new start-ups, a convention center, a health-care complex, a major shopping center, and other achievements. Tax revenue from these enterprises allowed the city to refurbish and improve its infrastructure and even add a center for the performing arts.

The chapters that follow provide visual evidence of all that Coralville has become since it was little more than a few cabins next to a dam and a mill on the Iowa River. The first chapter focuses on some of the founders and their families—the hard-working folk who stayed even if conditions were difficult at best. The second chapter addresses the Iowa River and its impact on the city. Industry and commerce, the subjects of the third and fourth chapters, show visually how grit, hard work, and the river shaped Coralville. Chapter five is all about travel: getting from here to there by horse, train, and automobile on all types of roads. Chapter six focuses on municipal leadership in the 20th century and shows how volunteers provided direction and vision for the future. Chapters seven and eight look at children and the quality of life in Coralville. Chapters nine and ten show how Coralvillians defined hospitality and service to one another. And, the final chapter is all about Coralville pride—celebrating the community’s considerable achievements.

That Coralville is a dynamic community is without question. One can imagine that Ezekiel Clark and Samuel Kirkwood, both