Welcome to the historic city of Mount Vernon! This walking tour highlights some of the historic structures in our Uptown area. Mount Vernon contains three historic districts, including the campus of Cornell College, which is included, in its entirety, on the National Register of Historic Places.

Home to Native Americans for centuries, Linn County was first opened to European settlers in the 1830s, following the Black Hawk War. The first settlers in the area came here to farm the rich rolling Iowa prairie lands, beginning in 1837. The majority of these settlers came from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

In 1840 the federal government hired Lyman Dillon of Cascade, Iowa, to plow a long furrow from Dubuque on the Mississippi River to the new territorial capitol at Iowa City. The roadway that developed along Dillon’s Furrow became known as the Military Road and, later, Highway 1. At the present site of Mount Vernon the route climbed a steep hill. Because of the strain this climb took on horses and oxen, the top of the hill, approximately where First Street and Highway 1 cross today, became a resting place and, as a result, an ideal location for a new town. At that time, the hill was covered with oaks, elms and linden trees with a spring at the base of the east side from which travelers drank.

During the 1850s Mount Vernon grew into a thriving center of local trade. Stores and businesses lined First Street. In 1853 Mount Vernon citizens, led by Methodist clergyman Elder George Bowman, founded Iowa Conference Male and Female Seminary, which became Cornell College four years later. The arrival of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad in 1859 and the Lincoln Highway in 1913, helped to secure the economic life of Mount Vernon.

The Mount Vernon Uptown that a visitor sees today was built after a series of disastrous fires in the 1890s that destroyed much of the original, wooden, downtown business district. The new business buildings, made of fireproof brick, stone and steel, have proved to be durable landmarks that continue to serve the needs of Mount Vernon residents, Cornell students, and visitors.
The Mount Vernon Uptown walking tour highlights these landmark buildings, drawing attention to their architecture, and the stories of the men and women who have worked, shopped and lived in these structures through the years. Thank you for coming. We’re glad you’re here.