Iowa’s “key” to bank architecture
Some years back I had a chance to drive through central Iowa, and I was told by several people to be sure to visit Grinnell, a town that was chock full of wonderful historic structures. I hadn’t forgotten this advice, and so on a bright, sunny day I headed to the western edge of Poweshiek County to see historic Grinnell, Iowa. Grinnell is due east of Des Moines and is easily reached off Interstate 80 at the exit for State Route 146. Grinnell sits at the junction of Route 146 and U.S. Highway 6.
Grinnell’s founding seems like a historic fable. The town was founded by and named for Josiah Bushnell Grinnell, an abolitionist pastor at the First Congregational Church in Washington, D.C. After Grinnell lost his pastorate that famed abolitionist Horace Greeley tendered his infamous advice “Go west, young man, go west!” Grinnell took the advice and settled in Iowa in 1854, founding the town that bears his name and later giving land and buildings to Iowa College, later renamed Grinnell College in his honor.
