Johnson County was settled in the 1830s and 1840s, a major impetus to settlement being the location of the territorial, and later state, capitol at Iowa City. Following the relocation of state government to Des Moines in the 1850s, Iowa City became home to the University of Iowa.
Beyond Iowa City, the rest of Johnson County is rural, with a few small towns. The Iowa River flows through the county and, as a result, historically, the county had large wooded areas, in addition to prairie lands. Aside from the roadside remnants in our tour, Johnson County is also the site of Williams Prairie, a 33 acre state preserve of remnant prairie. One of the sites on our tour, located along the Herbert Hoover Highway, is a planted prairie restoration. A larger restoration, part of the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, is located just over the county line in the Cedar County town of West Branch.
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