1 May 2025 - New London, Middletown, Burlington, Linch Farm, Changed Itinerary

 

Another full day.  This morning we headed east from Mount Pleasant to New London, the former home of my cousins Virgil Dean and Gary Cooper. 

I remember visiting their house as a kid.  With the help of Virgil, I found their house on Google Maps and so we decided to stop there and take a few pictures for them. 

This is a rear view down a street called Toothache Drive! 

They have a nice Veteran's Memorial Park in town and we stopped at it as well. Very well done.  Very respectful. 

Next stop east of New London was Middletown, home of the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant.  The IAAAP was established in November 1940, as the Iowa Ordnance Plant and started production in 1941. Production was stopped in 1945, when World War II ended. The plant resumed its ammunition manufacturing mission in 1949. In 1950, in response to the Korean conflict, production increased dramatically. In 1975, the Army assumed responsibility for IAAAP.  Up front there is not much to see.  Using Google Maps you get a better perspective or the enormity of this place.  From their web site, IAAAP is housed on 19,011 acres with 767 buildings, 271 igloos and storage capacity of 1,100,775 square feet. It also has 143 miles of roads and 102 miles of railroads.  Cousin's Virgil and Gary Cooper's father used to work there.  I was hoping to see a museum or a tour, or a big ol' bomb of some sort, but nada, so it was just a drive-by.

 Eastward-ho and we arrived at Burlington Iowa.  We made our way to Snake Alley, a squiggly cobblestone street like Lombard Street in San Francisco.  Our GPS found the top and it was obvious our big ol' brown truck was not going down that street - no way, no how.  Not a RAM 3500 crew cab long bed.  I have driven down this street but it was on two wheels during the final 1/4 mile of RAGBRAI years ago. 

Snake Alley was built in 1894.  The street is 275 feet long, rises 58.3 feet, and features five half-curves and two quarter-curves. Snake Alley is one-way, downhill from Washington Street to Columbia Street. It was built in 1894 to connect the residential area at the top of a bluff with the commercial district below. 

A view from the top, the entrance

A view from the bottom, the exit

Our next stop was just a couple blocks down the street to the Des Moines County Heritage Museum.  It is located in the old Burlington Free Public Library building which opened in 1898.  It reopened in 2009 as the museum after significant renovations.  It has three levels including a giant leaded skylight.  

 The outside of the building is impressive but the intricate woodworking inside is simply amazing. The museum tells the story of the history of Burlington and the surrounding area.

Some of the original library area is under renovation to open at the end of May 2025.

  

Riverboat wheel

Sea shell collection

Ornate woodwork on the staircase

The skylight

WE finished up in the museum and then drove to Crapo Park and visited the Hawkeye Log Cabin and a scenic overlook of the Mississippi River.  

Replica of a log cabin originally built here in 1910 as a meeting place for the Hawkeye native Gentlemen's Club.  Originally you had to be an Iowa resident for 50 years or more to belong to this club.  

I take terrible selfies!

A couple navy guns overlooking the Mississippi River "Dedicated to the men and women of this community who served in the armed forces of the United States in all wars".  

We headed back to Mount Pleasant and realizing we only really had one other stop planned.  So we decided to check the feasibility of heading home early.  We got lucky that our home campground, Griff's RV park, had a cancellation and could offer us a site starting tomorrow through 12 May, so we decided to return tomorrow.  

With that, we drove north of Mount Pleasant to the old Linch farmstead.  I was too small to remember this place but I have seen pictures of it, have seen paintings of it that my mom did, and I've have heard stories about it.  My mom and her siblings grew up there with Grandma Mary Ann and Grandpa Clark Linch and my great grandfather Joe Linch.  The Methodist Chapel and the Pleasant Lawn school they attended we just down the road and are still there.  On the farm they had an orchard and a general store.  All of that is gone now but the house is in great condition.  

The Pleasant Lawn School my mom attended and graduated from.  Looks like someone is living in there now.

The Methodist Chapel with the Pleasant Lawn school in the background.

The farm just down the road

Corner view of the house

Front view of the house.  

That's going to be a wrap from Mount Pleasant.  Tomorrow morning we will pull chocks and head west on Highway 34 and up 163 to Ankeny and Griff's RV Park.  We are looking forward to seeing our family again.  We will see son Dan's family this weekend as our grandson Calvin has two baseball games Saturday and likely more on Sunday.  Dan is headed east with Daniel as he plays baseball in Cedar Rapids this weekend.  Next weekend our daughter's Michelle and Jennifer and some of our other grandkids will converge on Ankeny and our granddaughter Hailee graduates from high school!  Then Monday 12 May we pull chocks again and head east for the start of Phase 2 of our summer RV adventures!