Contact:
Jori Wade-Booth, Communications & Marketing Director
Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area
jwadebooth@silosandsmokestacks.org
Office: 319.234.4567; Cell: 319.404.1311
WATERLOO, Iowa (January 7, 2025) – Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area (SSNHA) has welcomed six new sites to its 37-county region in Northeast Iowa.
“Silos & Smokestacks continually strives to enhance the telling of the story of American agriculture,” said Cara Miller, Executive Director of Silos & Smokestacks. “These new sites represent some of the unique untold agriculture stories that exist in the heritage area region. We are proud to add these diverse stories to our list of sites.”
Now 117 heritage area sites strong, each SSNHA site and attraction is designated to interpret and preserve its own unique part of America’s agricultural story,
New heritage area sites include:
- Barn Quilts of Black Hawk County, Black Hawk County. Featuring two self-guided driving tours highlighting 25 quilts. The tour includes viewing a quilt on the historic round barn at the Western Home Communities, local businesses, and farms. Along the way view wetlands, the Cedar River, and rural communities within a short drive from Cedar Falls and Waterloo.
- Country View Dairy, Hawkeye. Established in 2011 by Mennonite family Dave & Carolee Rapson, Country View Dairy built a new creamery from the ground up and now process milk from 80 cows into award-winning yogurt, milk and frozen yogurt. Visitors can see an active farm, get close to a calf, tour the farm, watch the yogurt-making process. The farm store and visitor center are open daily.
- Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center, Lansing. A 10,000 square foot nature center featuring exhibits on the flora and fauna of the Driftless Area as well as the history of the people from Native Americans to the present time and how they have used the natural resources to survive and make a living.
- Earth Moving Legacy Center, Elkader. A 38,000 square foot facility that showcases the rich history of earthmoving machinery. The collection spans from the 1880’s to 1940, focusing primarily on the evolution of the Caterpillar Company, and features early track-type tractors from Caterpillar, Holt Manufacturing and C.L. Best Manufacturing.
- Johnson County Historic Poor Farm, Iowa City. Following its operational period from 1855 to 1988, the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm remained under county ownership but lay vacant. In 2017, the Board of Supervisors adopted a 10-year Master Plan to revitalize the site while protecting its history. Today the site offers interpretive signage, local food production, trails, accessibility measures, native plantings, and event space rentals.
- Mississippi River Distilling Company, LeClaire. A family-owned distillery that crafts small-batch spirits from grains grown by local farmers, right on the banks of the mighty Mississippi. Tours and tastings are offered.
“We are excited to work with these six new sites, they all have unique agricultural stories that help define the region,” said Candy Welch-Streed, SSNHA director of partnerships.
If you are interested in learning more about the process to become a heritage area site, please visit the www.silosandsmokestacks.org/partner/site-designation/.
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Through a network of sites, programs and events, Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area tells the story of farm life and agribusiness—past and present. Visitors can learn about and experience agriculture at a variety of museums, historic sites, and farms. One of 62 federally designated heritage areas in the nation, Silos & Smokestacks is a member of the National Park Service National Heritage Area System. The heritage area covers 37 counties in the northeast quadrant of Iowa. To plan your visit or to learn more, visit www.silosandsmokestacks.org.
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