Lowden, IA

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owden is nestled in a valley of rolling hills and fertile soil. The City of Lowden has a population of 789 people, located in Cedar County, Springfield Township. It was once covered by tall, blue-stemmed prairie grass, prairie flowers and inhabited by Native Americans and prairie animals. The flow of land seekers into Iowa started in 1834 when the area known as the Blackhawk Purchase was opened for settlement. In 1839, the first Pioneer settlers arrived after the harrowing experience of crossing the mighty Mississippi by ferry at Clinton, Iowa.

In 1857, the Iowa Land Company, agents for the Chicago, Iowa and Nebraska Railroad Company, surveyed and platted the town on 12 acres. The railroad track to Lowden was completed in 1858. Lowden was incorporated May 5, 1869. The railroad provided for the trade of goods to Lowden, as well as passengers who needed food and shelter. Passenger service ceased in 1950.

Lowden became the terminal point and main station for the railroad between Clinton and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The Lincoln Highway was established in 1913, the United States’ first transcontinental highway from New York to San Francisco in September of 1914. It was announced that the Lincoln Highway, now known as the Historic Lincoln Highway, would pass through Lowden. Automobile traffic increased dramatically and with that brought trade and passengers needing food, shelter and gas.

Lowden also intersects with Herbert Hoover Highway, for between 1914 and 1923 food relief programs administered by President Herbert Hoover fed an estimated 318 million victims of war and drought in Europe and the Soviet Union. The highway was designated in 1923 as a tribute to famine relief efforts. Lowden played a significant part in the trade and transportation corridor through Iowa.