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Things to do in Waterloo
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Rensselaer Russell House Museum
The Rensselaer Russell House, one of the best example's of
Italianate architecture in the state of Iowa, sits high on a
bluff overlooking the Grout Museum district of Waterloo, Iowa.
The stately brick home has been lived in by three generations of
the Russell family, and is one of the oldest houses in Black
Hawk County. In 1857, Rensselaer Russell came to Waterloo from
New York, bringing his wife and daughter to settle here. He was
the son of an immigrant carpenter, and he had raised himself up
to work in banking and real estate; and at 33 bought an entire
block for $750 in the area to grow into Waterloo, that later
became called Russell Square. Caroline and Rensselaer
constructed the house in 1861 for the sum of $5,878.83, that has
become the biggest artifact in the city and was renovated to its
pristine state in 1890; when the house received electricity. It
quickly became a showcase for the city, in a time when luxurious
living was difficult, but sought after, and an 1889 Steinway
grand piano became the centerpiece of this magnificent home. It
was one of the first grand pianos in the region, and soon the
place of many elaborate gatherings. The piano has become the
crown jewel of the family's collection. The Victorian home is
encompassed by beautiful gardens, and it has been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. The museum has a gift shop
called the Pie Safe Museum Gift shop and has some wonderful
articles and replicas of the relics housed here.
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John Deere Tractor Assembly Plant &
Engine Works
The story of the John Deere
tractor assembly plant & engine works could not be complete
without some prior knowledge of the man who started it all; John
Deere. The John Deere Company has been in business for over 170
years, and would not be where it is today if not for the people,
places and products that showcase the philosophy of John's core
values; that include innovation, quality, commitment and
integrity. John Deere created his now famous steel plow in his
blacksmith shop in 1837, that were the beginnings of the mammoth
company it is today. Spread around the world, the company
employs around 56,000 people and the 200th anniversary of his
birth was a grand celebration. He was born in Rutland, Vermont,
February 7, 1804, and grew up in nearby Middlebury. John's
father was lost at sea when he was only 4 years old, and his
mother, Sarah, was left alone to raise him and his five brothers
and sisters. Since his family was dirt poor, he wasn't able to
get a good education, just the basics that were offered to
poorer families at the time. Determined to help his mother,
without telling her, he started working, in his teens, for a
tanner, where he would earn enough for a pair of shoes, a suit
of clothes and a stipend, grinding out bark. In 1821, when he
turned 17, he left his family, and became an apprentice to a
wealthy blacksmith in Middlebury, Captain Benjamin Lawrence. It
was to be a four year apprenticeship, with John getting paid $30
dollars for the first year, and $5 dollars more for each
successive year after that. He did get room and board, plus a
set of clothes; but most importantly, he got the guidance he
needed from the stern captain, who taught him everything he knew
about blacksmithing and may have filled a void left by his
father. When the apprenticeship was finished in 1825, the
hardworking young man moved on to journeyman jobs, fine tuning
his skills and learning that a blacksmith's work was his
signature. John worked on the usual blacksmith projects
like horseshoes, pots, skillets, pans, and farming implements
like rakes and forks; as well as creating the ironwork for the
mills and stagecoaches. He met and married Demarius Lamb, who
was attending boarding school in Middlebury, in 1827, and for
the next ten years, wandered around the center of the state
doing whatever work he could find in blacksmithing. There were
many skilled blacksmiths around, so he finally bought some land
and built his own smithy, just to have it burn down, twice.
Finally, he had to sell the land, leaving him in debt and in
need of steady work. During those hard times in the 1830s, many
hardships were in store for all the workers in the state, and
finally in 1837, the banking system collapsed in the Panic of
1837. Following their dreams, many easterners moved westward to
the prairies of Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, and a friend had
gone to northwestern Illinois in Grand Detour, and came back to
Vermont to bring his family with him; also telling John of the
great opportunities there. About that time, John received a
summons to court to pay a note for $78.76, and he was in a
quandary wondering what to do. He finally decided the best thing
for him and for his family of a pregnant wife and four children,
was to move west and find his fortune, then sent for his family.
Going by wagon, steamer and canal boat, with only $73 in his
pocket, he went to Grand Detour taking several weeks to do. When
he got there, he rented some land, built a small blacksmith shop
and got work within a few days. Soon he heard the woes of the
farmers that moved here from the northeast, complaining about
the poor quality cast iron plows that worked good enough in New
England, but didn't do well in the sticky soil of the
Midwest.
The soil would stick to the plow and needed to be taken off by
hand which slowed the plowing process and made the whole job
harder. John soon envisioned a plow that would work with a
highly polished blade that would clean or scour itself as it
plowed the fields. In 1837, he saw a broken sawblade in the
corner of a sawmill and asked the owner if he could have it and
went back to his shop and created the first steel plow that did
the job perfectly and opened up the Midwest for agricultural
farming. In 1838, he sent for his family, and they came in a
covered wagon taking six weeks to arrive. Baby Charles, later to
succeed his father in the business, was nestled in the wagon's
feedbox. Although he didn't have the funds or the facilities to
mass produce the plows, he knew that his future lay in the steel
plow business rather than blacksmithing. In 1848, he moved his
operation to Moline, Illinois, taking advantage of the
Mississippi River for bringing in raw steel and shipping his
fine plows to other areas. After just a few years, he was
producing 1600 plows a year and getting steel from Pittsburgh,
made to his specs. John made sure his son Charles had the best
schooling and in 1853, he started in the company at age 16. In
just 5 years, he was able to turn the business over to Charles
and he spent his time with social and philanthropic endeavors.
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Dan Gable International Wrestling
Institute & Museum
The Dan Gable International
Wrestling Institute and Museum was opened in 1998, having gone
through a year of intense planning and final building. It was
however, started in the mind of Mike Chapman over 40 years ago,
who is the founder and director of the exciting museum. Believed
to be the leading authority on wrestling history, he has been
involved in the study, writing, wrestling and collecting the
great history of the sport since his early school days. He has
written 13 books about wrestling, and has been the staunchest
supporter of maintaining the history and educating others about
this unique sport, both for our generation and future ones. The
idea behind the museum is expressed in the mission and goals of
the institute, which is to save, maintain and promote the
extensive and exciting heritage of man's oldest sport in such a
way as the benefit wrestling, entertain and enlighten the public
and finally to inspire young people to dream large and work
hard. Presently the institute has over 600 exhibits that will
guide visitors down the history of the sport, from the ancient
Greek games to the present day Olympics. The Professional Wing
contains a half size wrestling ring, the George Tragos/Lou Thesz
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, the magnificent wall that
is dedicated to the famous Frank Gotch; as well as many other
meaningful displays.
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