This week in Burlington
- November 2026 New Member Luncheon
Tue, Nov 10 · 11:45 AM · Greater Burlington Partnership 610 N 4th St. Ste 200
About Burlington
Long before the town had a name, the Sauk and Meskwaki knew these river bluffs as Shoquoquon, the Flint Hills, and in 1833 a few settlers crossed the Mississippi and staked claims below them; a year later John Gray paid $50 for the right to rename the place after his Vermont hometown. Burlington quickly became the first capital of the Iowa Territory, and a local newspaper's tribute to Chief Black Hawk gave the whole state its Hawkeye nickname. Steamboats and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad built the city, and later factories followed, including the Case plant where the first backhoes rolled out in 1957. People still love to walk up Snake Alley, the brick street that zigzags through five tight turns up Heritage Hill, and to wander the trees and gardens of Crapo Park on the bluff where Zebulon Pike is said to have raised the first American flag on Iowa soil. Today the church spires of the downtown skyline look out on the white cable-stayed Great River Bridge, and the 1937 Art Deco Capitol Theater is filling its stage with concerts again.