"Cedar Rapids is situated due west of Chicago, the present emporium of the west, and is the present terminus of the principal trunk railroad from that city penetrating the heart of the northwest. It is 75 miles southwest from Dubuque, 80 miles nearly west from Clinton, about the same distance from Davenport, 55 miles from Muscatine, and about 110 from Des Moines—the capital of Iowa.
NATURAL ADVANTAGES
"Few interior cities are blessed with more natural advantages than Cedar Rapids. The rapids in the Cedar river are the first met with after leaving the Mississippi, and no more occur of any considerable amount for many miles above. These afford one of the best water powers in the west, and with proper dams would afford power sufficient to run all machinery that will ever be required on either side of the river, even though our population should reach fifty thousand. Surrounding the town for miles is one of the richest agricultural districts in the Union, forming a part of the Cedar valley country which Professor Owen has taken as his type of perfection in fertility. There is a plentiful supply of timber for all ordinary uses—numerous groves are scattered upon the surrounding hills—giving the appearance of an enchanted garden—probably unsurpassed in richness by any region of equal extent on the American continent.
"Its position in reference to other towns and cities is such as must of necessity make it a great railroad center, and several are already projected, and one under contract to this city. We shall speak more fully of this class of advantages in another portion of this article.
"In point of healthfulness, it will compare favorably with any of the river towns, the diseases being chiefly of a bilious nature, and yielding readily to very simple treatment. This fact applies with very general truth to all the valleys of Iowa—while the more elevated districts are more free from malaria, they are subject to a disease of a more complex and serious character. This may seem fabulous to the casual observer, but we feel assured that the combined experience of western practitioners will bear testimony to the correctness of our statements.
BLACK HAWK