The first fire company was organized in Cedar Rapids in 1869. In 1871 the Cedar Rapids Gas Light Company was organized. The first mayor of Cedar Rapids was Martin L. Barber.
The first steam mill in the county was built by J. P. Glass in 1845. The first hand-raking reaper brought into Linn county was by William Ure, of Fairfax township, who hauled it from Chicago by oxen in the summer of 1847.
The first newspaper in Cedar Rapids was the Progressive Era, published in 1851 by D. O. Finch; the first newspaper in Marion was the Prairie Star, published by A. Hoyt in 1852; the first daily newspaper published in Linn county was called the Morning Observer, the first number being issued on September 1, 1870, and edited by Thomas G. Newman and Z. Enos.
MAIN STREET, SPRINGVILLE
QUAKER MEETING HOUSE, WHITTIER