Cedar Rapids (pronounced /ˈsiːdər ˈræpɨdz/ ) is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, 20 miles (32 km) north of Iowa City and 100 miles (160 km) east of Des Moines, the largest city and state's capital. City Hall and the County Courthouse are located on Mays Island, on the Cedar River, Downtown. Cedar Rapids is one of few cities in the world with governmental offices on a municipal island.
A flourishing center for arts and culture in Eastern Iowa, the city is home to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, the Paramount Theatre, Theatre of Cedar Rapids and the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance. Cedar Rapids is an economic hub of the state, located in the core of the Interstate 380 Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Technology Corridor of Linn, Benton, Jones, Johnson, and Washington counties. The estimated population of the three-county Metropolitan Statistical Area which includes nearby cities of Marion and Hiawatha, was 255,452 in 2008. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 128,056 in 2008. The Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor has an estimated population of 423,353 as of 2006.
Cedar Rapids has been residence to famous figures for the United States, including American Gothic painter Grant Wood, journalist and historian William L. Shirer, writer and photographer Carl Van Vechten, and aerodynamics pioneer Dr. Alexander Lippisch. In the 1990s and 2000s, Hollywood would feature several Cedar Rapidians including actors Ashton Kutcher, Elijah Wood and Ron Livingston. The city is also the setting for a musical, "The Pajama Game" .
The name Cedar Rapids is named for the Cedar River. Cedar Rapids is nicknamed the City of Five Seasons for the traditional four seasons and a "fifth season" which is a time to enjoy the other four. The symbol of the five seasons is the Tree of Five Seasons sculpture in downtown Cedar Rapids along the north river bank. The name "Five Seasons" and representations of the sculpture appear throughout the city in many forms.
History
The location of present-day Cedar Rapids was in the territory of the Fox and Sac tribes.
The first permanent settler, Osgood Shepherd, arrived in 1838. When Cedar Rapids was first established in 1838, William Stone named the town Columbus. In 1841 it was resurveyed and renamed by N.B. Brown and his associates. They named the town Cedar Rapids, for the rapids in the Cedar River at the site. The river was named for the large number of red cedar trees that grew along its banks. Cedar Rapids was incorporated on January 15, 1849. Cedar Rapids annexed the community of Kingston in 1870.
The economic growth of Cedar Rapids increased in 1871 upon the founding of the Sinclair meatpacking company.
In June 2008, the Cedar River surpassed the 500-year flood plain and placed an estimated 1300 city blocks, or 9 square miles (23 km 2 ), on both banks of the river under water. Nearly 4,000 homes were evacuated. The Cedar River reached a record high of 31.2 feet (9.5 m) on June 14, 2008. Over 300 homes are to be destroyed in the Cedar Rapids area. (see Iowa flood of 2008)
Geography
The city is divided into four quadrants. For addresses, 1st Avenue (Business Highway 151) divides the north and south sides of the city, and the Cedar River divides east and west. The quadrants are labeled NE, SE, NW and SW. A street address in Cedar Rapids usually consists of the house number, the street name, and the quadrant. For example, 123 Example St NW . The only exceptions are government addresses on Mays Island and locations outside the city limits but which use Cedar Rapids in their mailing address, which have no quadrant label.
Except in the downtown area, 1st Avenue and the Cedar River tend to run diagonally instead of straight north/south/east/west. (In fact, 1st Avenue briefly runs directly west-east on the west side of the city, SW to NE in the middle, and south-north on the east side.) Thus, the area designated NE is geographically the northern section of the city; NW the western; SE the eastern; and SW the southern. As a result, there are some areas in western Cedar Rapids where NW addresses are actually south of SW addresses.
Cedar Rapids is divided into fourteen ZIP Codes. Mays Island and the downtown area are covered by 52401. The northeast quadrant is covered by 52402 and 52411. The southeast quadrant is covered by 52403. The southwest quadrant is covered by 52404. The northwest quadrant is covered by 52405. Post office boxes are covered by ZIP codes 52406, 52407, 52408, 52409, and 52410. Several other ZIP codes are for specific business (Aegon USA, Rockwell Collins, etc.).
The Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of Linn, Benton, and Jones counties. The MSA had a 2000 census population of 237,230, with an estimated 2008 population of 255,452. (Linn County was the only county in the MSA before MSA definitions were redefined after the 2000 census.)
As a growing job center, Cedar Rapids pulls commuters from nearby Marion and Hiawatha which have become suburbs though they are old incorporated towns. Other towns that have become bedroom communities include Ely, Swisher, Shueyville, Palo, Atkins, Fairfax, Walford, Robins and Bertram.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 64.4 square miles (166.8 km²), of which, 63.1 square miles (163.5 km²) of it is land and 1.3 square miles (3.3 km²) of it (1.99%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 120,758 people, 49,820 households, and 30,838 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,912.6 people per square mile (738.4/km²). There were 52,240 housing units at an average density of 827/sq mi (319/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.86% White, 3.71% African American, 0.25% Native American, 1.77% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 1.79% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.71% of the population.
There were 49,820 households out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $43,704, and the median income for a family was $54,286. Males had a median income of $37,217 versus $26,251 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,589. About 4.9% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.8% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.
Cedar Rapids is 90 percent non-Hispanic white, but has a notably large growing minority population. There are Asian (such as Cambodians arrived in the 1980s), Arab-American and Hispanic communities after an influx of immigrants came for available work in the 1990s. The region has a scattered number of African Americans and they are active in civic life, and an Indian settlement of the Sac and Fox of the Mississippi in Iowa 50 miles (80 km) to the West. The city itself has large numbers of ethnic European ancestry, such as Germans (an estimated 30 percent), Czechs (over 10 percent alone), Slovaks, Croatians, Serbs, Russians, Dutch, Danish, Swedes and French (from either France and Canada).
Muslim Heritage
Cedar Rapids has played an important role in Muslim culture in the United States. The National Muslim Cemetery on 12 acres (49,000 m 2 ) of land donated by Haj. Yahya William Aossey in 1948 is said to be the first exclusively Muslim cemetery in the United States (it is unrelated to the United States military National Cemetery system). Graves in the cemetery face Mecca. The Mother Mosque of America dedicated on June 16, 1934 was one of the first permanent structures built specifically to serve as a mosque in the United States. In 1972 another newer mosque was built and the original mosque was sold and was to fall into disrepair before being purchased in 1990 by the Islamic Council of Iowa and renovated. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Iowa flood of 2008 extensively damaged the basement destroying several historic documents.
Muslim presence in Cedar Rapids dates to 1895 when the first immigrants arrived from the Beqaa Valley in today's Lebanon and Syria. Organizations now claim to have the oldest running organization in the United States of granting Halal certificates (for Iowa food products).
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