This week in Ely
Nothing on Ely’s calendar for the next two weeks yet.
About Ely
Long before there was a town, pioneer families such as the Fuhrmeisters, the Facklers and the Hollars farmed the groves and prairie south of the Cedar River, hauling their crops all the way to Muscatine to sell. That changed in 1872, when the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern laid track through and the town was platted and named for Dr. John F. Ely, one of the railroad's officers; a grain warehouse, general stores, a hotel and a depot soon followed. Czech families settled here in large numbers, and by 1903, when Ely incorporated with about 200 people, its storekeepers and council carried Bohemian names. The plain frame storefronts with false fronts they built along Dows Street still stand as a National Register historic district, alongside the old Krob grain elevator and the 1923 Tudor Revival schoolhouse that now holds City Hall, the community center and the history society's archives. Today Ely is a fast-growing town of about 2,300 just south of Cedar Rapids, with the Cedar Valley Nature Trail running through it, a park kids call the Fishy Park for its fish-shaped bridge, and a Fall Fest each September whose proceeds have built ball diamonds, a skating rink and a new scoreboard.
Along Dows St
- Ely Public Library · 1595 Dows St
- House Divided Brewery · 1620 Dows St
- Lush Salon · 1640 Dows St
- Odie's Bar & Grill · 1650 Dows St
- The Downtown Dachshund · 1655 Dows St Ste 1
- My Moms Bakery Llc · 1665 Dows St
- Lacey's Barber Shop · 1680 Dows St
- Cloud 9 Massage & Spa · 1685 Dows St
- Pet Groomer Mel · 1685 Dows St
- Zoey's Spaw · 1685 Dows St
- United States Postal Service · 1690 Dows St
- Peritia Advisors · 1695 Dows St
- O So Beautiful Salon · 1600 Dows St A
- Dows Street Historic District
- Ely American Legion · 1545 Main St
- St John's Lutheran Church · 1420 Walker St
- Epic Interiors · 1415 Walker St
- Ely City Fire Department · 1300 Main St
- Dan and Debbie's Creamery · 1600 Main St
- Ely City Hall · 1570 Rowley St
- Ely School House · 1570 Rowley St
- Ely Community History Society · 1570 Rowley St
- Ely Farmers Market · 1570 Rowley St
- Hoosier Creek Wash · 1455 State St