Camp Pope boundary based on historical written accounts and sketch maps. Map prepared by Tim Weitzel using Johnson County Geographic Information Systems Property Information Viewer.

Page 10

Location and Description

The location of Camp Pope is known from numerous first hand written accounts and two maps made by people who visited or trained at the camp. One of the two sketch maps was endorsed by some of the men who were present while the camp was in use. S. C. Jones said only a little about the location of Camp Pope in his diary other than it was southeast of Iowa City. An article written on the occasion of a reunion of the Twenty-Second Iowa in 1895 was more clear. It stated that the camp had been located east of Summit Street and north of the railroad grade with the entrance at Bowery and Summit streets, but this description left the eastern and northern boundaries undefined. Jacob Switzer recalled the location of the camp with more detail in his memoir stating the camp was located on the east side of Summit Street from north of Bowery Street to the Rock Island railroad. He noted the parade and drill ground was on both sides of the railroad up to the front of Governor Kirkwood’s house, which now has an address in the 1100 block of Kirkwood Avenue, but at the time the same location was in a rural setting on Wyoming Road. This description is similar to the general location Samuel Pryce provided in his uncompleted memoirs, namely along Summit Street near Bowery Street. Pryce wrote the location where his regiment, the Twenty-Second Iowa, had camped was along the east edge of Summit Street across from Henry Strohm’s house. ⁹⁰

Sketch map of Camp Pope by S. C. Jones, 1925. The map contains labels for the borders of the camp, including “Summit Street, W. line,” “Bowery Street, North line” with north written over south, “East line,” “Mrs. Margery Paterson’s West Line,” and “Rail Road. South line” with south written over north.

While S. C. Jones said little in his published memoir, a more complete view of the camp boundaries can be learned from two sketch maps he made near the time of a reunion of the Twenty-Second Iowa Regiment. One is dated from the map as 1925. The State Historical Society has given a date of approximately 1926 for the second map. The 1925 map clearly delineated the camp area as being located south of Bowery Street, east of Summit Street, north of the railroad and the east boundary was shown as the west property line of Marjorie Patterson, which is where Oakland Avenue was later constructed. The railroad, which was completed in 1856, is shown along the south edge of the camp. This map is fairly accurate in comparison to professionally surveyed maps even with some initial confusion by Jones as to the correct orientation for north, which is apparent in the corrected cardinal directions written on the map. The extension of Bowery along the entire north side of the map is an error. Bowery never extended past Clark Street and a house was built on the east side of the intersection in 1860. As a point of reference, this residence was the Mary O. Coldren Home for Retired Persons from 1910 to 2001. ⁹¹

Sketch map of Camp Pope in Iowa City, Iowa ca. 1862 by S. C. Jones, [1926]. State Historical Society of Iowa, accession number BB 06.17 #01. The map is countersigned by men of the Twenty-Second Iowa, William P. Williams of the Twenty-Eighth Iowa, and Iowa City resident S. A. Swisher. It bears the caption, “We the men of the 22nd Iowa Regiment, do to our best knowledge agree to this plat and drawing of the location of Camp Pope.” 

Jones made a second map around 1926 that he showed to fellow veterans at the time of the placement of the memorial plaque attached to a rock located at the south edge of the playground at Longfellow Elementary School. The map is oriented with north toward the bottom. Because the school and playground are several feet above Seymour Avenue, a person standing at the memorial plaque, which has been at the south edge of the school grounds since it was placed, would have been able to use the map to look out onto the old camp area below and recall how the area looked in 1862. Many of the houses along Seymour and Sheridan avenues were not yet built. A large dot on the map may indicate where the memorial plaque and rock were placed. At the top of the page runs a short affirmation of validity for the map. The map was endorsed by several members of the Twenty-Second Iowa, one member of the Twenty-Eighth Iowa, and prominent local businessman Stephen A. Swisher who each attested to the accuracy of the map. A note mentions that P. J. Regan, who was employed by Mr. Strohm, made a statement about the map. The area south of the railroad that Jacob Switzer described as part of the drill and parade ground as well as details about camp landscape are indicated as part of the original camp in this map and include a meadow with some trees, a possible drainageway, the barracks and the tents that were used in the camp, the names of adjacent land owners, the railroad, and the city streets that existed at the time including Bowery and Summit streets. Two houses are shown on Summit Street. Because the Strohms’ house was mentioned as a geographical landmark by Samuel Pryce. Henry Strohm was a successful owner of an extensive plant nursery and residing on Summit Street in Iowa City, his house is likely the larger of the two houses. Strohm’s residence appears on maps from 1854, 1868, and 1870 as well as in the 1868 and 1890 city directories, federal census records for 1880, and a voters register list for 1896. ⁹²

Camp Pope boundary on an 1868 aerial map with contemporary landmarks. Note Kirkwood Avenue formerly was Wyoming Road and Muscatine Avenue was Muscatine Road. Base map image from A. Ruger, Bird’s Eye View of Iowa City, Johnson Co., Iowa 1868. Chicago: Chicago Lithographing, [1868], Library of Congress number 73693398

Descriptions by individuals who visited or trained at the Camp Pope offer details about what it would have looked like in 1862. S. C. Jones wrote that the camp occupied a beautiful green. Taylor Pierce wrote that the camp was a beautiful place to drill with plenty of good water. Edward Finkbine, a Des Moines lumber executive who was a young boy who lived in Iowa City during the Civil War, said in 1909 that the camp had been “a broad undulating meadow dotted with trees.” Al Moore who visited the camp as a boy recalled that Camp Pope was located southeast of the city but in 1919 the land was “dotted with handsome residences” and no sign of the camp remained visible. It is worth noting here that dotted trees or residences would not be the same as full coverage of either. Moore’s remarks were made in an address to the Old Settlers Association. He recalled guard houses at the camp entrance. Jennie Shrader Wilson told Sarah Pain Hoffman, a local historian whose oral history notes were printed in a series of articles in the Iowa City Press-Citizen in 1934, that the camp headquarters was located near Clark and Bowery streets. J. W. Huffman, who had visited his uncle who was training at the camp, related his impressions to Sarah Pain Hoffman. His uncle was the ambulance driver for the Twenty-Second Iowa and he recalled that the camp had been mostly scrub timber. Since scrub was a cognate of shrub that was in common use during the 1860s, this description seems likely to mean large shrubs and small trees with intervening grass that could have been pastureland or other open land that was a remnant of North American native savannah. The Camp Pope area occupied an east facing slope that trends downward to Ralston Creek, more than a block away from the eastern edge of the camp. The ground rises rapidly to the west and south with a slight rise to the northwest. The general shrubland appearance is echoed in an 1868 map of Iowa City that depicts the land east of Summit Street as undulating and covered in grass and small brush. ⁹³

Camp Pope had a number of temporary buildings including barracks and guard houses in addition to commandeered or volunteered private residences used for support functions such as hospitals and headquarters. As noted, Jennie Shrader Wilson recalled the camp headquarters was located near Bowery and Clark streets near to the guard houses that Al Moore recalled near the camp entrance at Bowery and Summit streets. It is likely that the headquarters were located in the house that J. W. Clark owned at the east end of Bowery Street. The Iowa City Assessor’s records indicate this building was constructed in 1860. No other residences existed at this intersection in 1862. Samuel Pryce quipped that guards stood sentry in front of the headquarters “wikiup.” It seems he was likely alluding to the command officers being like prairie chiefs who were situated better in a building than the men sleeping in the tents. ⁹⁴

Possibly the most noteworthy aspect of the camp, other than the thousands of armed men in military uniform, were the barracks and tents the men slept in. Twenty-two temporary barracks, little more than simple bunk houses, were quickly built in August and September and then removed at the end of December. S. C. Jones wrote that ten barracks were completed by August 14. Newspaper reports indicate another five were completed by August 23 and 22 barracks in total were completed by September 17. This was enough space for two regiments. The men of the Twenty-Second Iowa moved into the first ten barracks when they were completed. The remainder of the men continued to sleep in tents until barracks became available. After the Twenty-Second departed, enough barracks would have been available for the remaining two regiments. A row of barracks, the first ten occupied by the Twenty-Second Iowa companies, are shown on the circa 1926 Jones map in a line extending west to east across the field. They are indicated with a series of lines, arranged parallel to each other in a single row. The barracks are labeled with some of the company designations, including A, f, D, K, and B. These must be read upside down, given the orientation of the annotations and signatures. The row of barracks was approximately aligned with a house on Summit Street that is assumed to be Henry Strohm’s residence since his name was the only one mentioned by Pryce. This roughly places the row of barracks along the south side of Seymour Avenue, which runs along the former south property line of a parcel owned by J. W. Clark from 1860 to 1866. Placing the barracks near Seymour Avenue agrees with the topography or terrain. Longfellow Elementary is on a short rise above the street. The houses south of the street occupy a relatively level area that extends east from Clark Street toward Oakland Avenue and south from Seymour Avenue just past the alley between Seymour and Sheridan avenues. South of the alley the ground rises more quickly up toward Sheridan Avenue before leveling off between Sheridan Avenue and the railroad. The tents Jones drew on his circa 1926 map would have been in this general area. The barracks run east to west from near to Summit Street toward a drainage, shown in the green shaded area with trees. ⁹⁵

Camp Pope features overlain on Iowa – 2020 LiDAR Hillshade map to indicate topography. Map prepared by Tim Weitzel. Features include the proposed camp boundary, Items from S. C. Jones’ circa 1926 map including barracks, drainage and trees, and tents. Also shown is the O. S. Kelley Western Manufacturing plant that is mentioned as a landmark in the text. Basemap obtained from the Iowa Geographic Map Server, Geographic Information Systems Support & Research Facility, Iowa State University. https://ortho.gis.iastate.edu/ 

Carver Barracks, Washington D.C., 1862, lithograph & print by Chas. Magnus, 12 Frankfort St., N.Y., 1862, Library of Congress number LC-DIG-pga-07414 https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/pga.07414/

The final configuration of the barracks after September was not discovered in this research. To accommodate the additional 12 barracks, a second row may have been built in a parallel line near the first row of 10 buildings, though they could have been built in one long row, or perhaps even at a perpendicular to the original row. Based on illustrations of Civil War garrisons, the configuration wasn’t standardized across the rapidly gathering federal forces. The idea of two parallel rows was suggested by T. D. Davis in an otherwise somewhat faulty set of recollections collected by Sarah Pain Hoffman and later published in 1934. Davis’s errors in memory include recalling that the train took the soldiers to Muscatine from Iowa City when the rail line actually ran to Davenport, which is the same rail corridor in 2026. Davis also thought the barracks were in two rows of five on either side of Bowery Street, but the street didn’t ever extend past Clark Street. Davis also recalled ten barracks were built but this would have been the number that were completed before he left with the Twenty-Second for Davenport, so he was correct in this detail. Further details about the configuration of the barracks can’t be determined from the available information. Jennie Shrader Wilson recalled the barracks sat to the south of the main part of camp, which suggests the barracks were located south of the property that the headquarters stood on, which again places them somewhere south of Seymour Avenue. ⁹⁶

Details about what the barracks looked like are limited. We know they were built quickly and given the wartime economy it is likely only the minimum of expense was allowed to complete them. T. D. Davis told the Iowa City Press-Citizen that the barracks were frame structures with rough sawn lumber and the bunks were made of wood. George Remley wrote that the barracks were designed to sleep 96 men with two to a bunk. The bunks were 6 ½ ft long by 4 to 5 feet wide in tiers that extended three three bunks high. Given the dimensions that George provided, the buildings should minimally have been about 20 feet long by a sparse seven to eight feet wide assuming the column bunks were arranged in a single row and no more than three feet had been allowed beside the bunks to pass through the building. Taylor Pierce said that the Twenty-Second Iowa stayed in buildings built in long rows at Benton Barracks. Each apartment, as he described it, held 97 men and was 32 feet long and 10 feet high. There the field officers had a separate room at the end of the company barracks. The additional two barracks beyond the 20 required for two regiments may have been field officers quarters. It may be that larger and more substantial barracks at Camp Benton simply had longer bunks than Camp Pope. That the barracks were long and narrow is both supported by written accounts, illustrations and the fact that wide buildings would have required longer joists or a complicated construction pattern. ⁹⁷

It is clear that additional buildings, mostly unnamed private residences, served as the hospital and a kitchen for the soldiers to collect their meals during the first few weeks of the rendezvous. As stated earlier, it appears the private residence located at the east end of Bowery Street was used for the camp headquarters. The Iowa City Assessor records indicate this house was built in 1860 and land records research by Harriet A. Stevens indicates J. W. Clark owned the land at that time. Clark was an Iowa City land developer who also diversified his business interests with investments in a cotton plantation on the Yazoo River in Mississippi after the end of the Civil War. It is unclear the reason that he built the house. It may have been part of his land speculation business or it is possible he used it as his primary residence, later relocating to Iowa Avenue. The building’s use for headquarters becomes more understandable if he was not living in the house in 1862. By the time the house became the Coldren Home for Retired Persons several additions had been added along with a stylistic update occurring during the 1880s making the original appearance unknown. ⁹⁸

Private residences in Iowa City were also used for convalescing soldiers. The Iowa City Weekly Iowa State Reporter noted a vacant house near the relocated Camp Fremont was commandeered to be used for the hospital of the Tenth Iowa in 1861. The men of the Tenth Iowa occupied the land that later became Camp Pope for about two weeks in September after vacating the State Fair Ground. It is likely this same building was used for Camp Pope. It was a house that was not occupied, so it was ideal as the hospital, but after large numbers of soldiers became ill, some men were sent to other residences in town to recover from illness. Iowa City resident John Springer who was then a boy recalled a soldier had come to stay at their house. ⁹⁹

An unknown house also served as the camp kitchen during the first weeks of the rendezvous. Taylor Pierce wrote in his unique, idiolectic style about a victualling house that they went to before they began to cook their own meals. Jacob Switzer mentioned a soup house and his dislike for the cooks and the food. George and Lycurgus Remley noted a kitchen where they collected food before their cooking kettles arrived and that it was at “Smith’s ‘Establishment,’” which was located “on the grounds.” The closest match for a Smith in the 1868 city directory is Levi Smith, a baker living at Bloomington and Linn Street. While several accounts mention the baker’s bread they were served for meals, this location is more than a mile from the camp but perhaps it was the same Smith who set up a kitchen at the camp. As common as bakers and the surname Smith might seem on first appearance, Iowa City was not large in 1862, but it is very unlikely that George would have walked a mile through town to the baker’s house and have thought he was still on the grounds of the camp. It seems more likely a house near to the camp served as the camp kitchen early in the rendezvous. ¹⁰⁰

E. C. Lyon’s Roanoke and The Strohm Residence in relation to Camp Pope’s location in 1862. J. H. Millar, Iowa City and Its Environs, Bryan and Miller, 1854, University of Iowa Special Collections and Archives

Extent of Iowa City growth in 1870 compared to the location of Camp Pope in 1862. H.S. on the map is understood to be Henry Strohm from context. “Iowa City Township,” Combination Atlas Map of Johnson County, Iowa, Geneva, Illinois: Thompson and Everts, State Historical Society of Iowa, Atlases

A study of professionally made maps of Johnson County and Iowa City provides additional historical background and verification of some of the details in first-hand accounts. An 1854 historic plat map shows the Camp Pope area as defined by S. C. Jones was a large tract of rural land owned at that time by McCartey’s Heirs, seemingly a form of land trust. Iowa City had still not grown far beyond Summit Street in 1870 as seen in a plat of Iowa City Township. A house is shown roughly at the corner of Clark Street and the future alignment of Seymour Avenue. The house at that intersection has a construction date of 1863 based on the records of the Iowa City Assessor’s Office, but it is notably absent from all historical maps reviewed. An orchard or other trees labeled H. S. is understood to indicate Henry Strohm based on the fact that P. J. Regan later owned that land parcel and had previously worked for Strohm. In the 1870 plat, S. J. Kirkwood’s land parcel can be seen south of the camp location and the initials C. A. E. on the parcel where the building that served as headquarters stood refer to C. A. Eggert who bought the property from J. W. Clark in August of 1866. ¹⁰¹

Camp Pope location on an early plat map, showing Pryce’s potential locations for the quartermaster and informal camping. Base map image from “Map of Iowa City 1900,” Atlas of Johnson County, Iowa, Davenport: Huebinger Survey and Map Publishing, 1900, University of Iowa Special Collections and Archives

Further details about the Camp Pope area are revealed in a third plat map. The points of information include subdivision names and land owners in 1900, which is around the time the three men whose memoirs were eventually published were being written. Shown on the map are Sarah E. Seymour’s parcel where the headquarters were located, Nicholas Oakes’ 12.5-acre parcel where his brickworks was located across the street from his house, P. J. Regan’s additions, the proximity of the camp to the later O. S. Kelly Western Manufacturing plant which was built near the location Frank Luse saw the men of the Twenty-Second Iowa board the train for Davenport. Incidentally, the closest the tracks come to level ground are around Maggard Street. Sarah Seymour apparently gave her name to Seymour street, though it was probably Stevens Coldren who named the street in honor of her since he developed the Coldren Addition subdivision, which was about the time the street was built. Regan’s subdivisions help to verify the location of the camp as does the O. S. Kelley plant

Samuel Pryce recalled a camp that was much more detailed and expansive than Jones and Switzer described. The other diaries, letters, and contemporary newspaper reports did not mention the size of the camp or its location. These were determined from the maps made by Jones. In contrast, Pryce wrote about two areas that were apparently not officially inside the camp perimeter but may have provided support to camp operations. These included the quartermaster’s stores and an informal area where Pryce suggested men of the Twenty-Eighth and Fortieth Iowa regiments camped. A map from 1900 that shows property owners helps to locate these areas, but there is a good deal of unpacking required to parse and verify what he meant by his descriptions of these areas.

Pryce stated the quartermaster stores were located north of Bowery on Lyon’s Grove. Although such a definitive place name seems like it should be readily identifiable, this location is actually enigmatic when first read because the place name is no longer commonly known. There is no indication of a place called Lyon’s Grove anywhere in the available historical maps. Iowa City newspapers provided a rough location for Lyon’s Grove between Lucas and Dodge streets, but the location was apparently well enough known to residents of Iowa City that no north or south boundaries were given by either newspaper in a series of articles in 1901. The newspapers were promoting specific areas to be selected for the construction of a proposed school building. Professionally surveyed maps from 1854 and 1900 further help to illuminate the location known as Lyon’s Grove on Bowery Street. ¹⁰²

Ethiel C. Lyon was a farmer who was recorded in the 1850 federal census as living on property not far from Robert Lucas and his Plum Grove, as determined by proximity of their entries in the census records. His home, named Roanoke, appears on the Millar Map published in 1854 and was located south of Bowery Street and east of Van Buren Street. The 1900 plat shows his total property holdings extended from the railroad north past Bowery Street to the south boundary of the original 1839 town plat, which is the alignment of Court Street, though the street was never connected through its full extent. His property also extended from Van Buren Street east to Henry Strohm’s land at Lucas Street with additional blocks to the west of Van Buren. Although Lyon was recorded as a farmer in the 1850 federal census, he also was an early trustee of the University of Iowa and invested in the first railroads in Iowa during the 1850s. He later developed two Iowa City subdivisions which surround the location of the first Iowa City railroad depot formerly located near South Van Buren Street. He had retained an undeveloped parcel north of Bowery Street between Dodge and Lucas streets that was still undeveloped in 1901 and in the possession of his daughter Estelle “Ella” (Lyon) Morseman. His son inherited a parcel south of Bowery Street, also between Dodge and Lucas Streets. Thomas M. Banbury, the camp quartermaster, could easily have used space available on Lyon’s undeveloped property to store materials for Camp Pope. The location is not very far from the camp and also not far from the railroad depot. These details are not reflected in the other accounts of the camp and might be attributed entirely to Pryce’s poetic license, however his location of Lyon’s Grove appears to have details that are plausible enough to be considered as potentially accurate. The land was still vacant and known widely by the name he provided in his memoir around the time he was writing it. ¹⁰³

The second area that Samuel Pryce mentioned was camping areas used by some of the regiments stating “among these the 28th and 40th Iowa regiments.” Placing to one side that there were no “additional regiments” other than the Twenty-Eighth and Fortieth Iowa that trained at Camp Pope for the moment, it is worth exploring if additional camping areas extended beyond the areas shown in Jones’ maps because this has caused confusion among a variety of local historians and the authors of technical reports who have attempted to describe where the camp was located.

Iowa City newspapers mentioned Lovell Swisher had a number of vacant lots at Summit and Bowery as another possible location for the same school under consideration in 1901 and commented that they preferred either of Lyon’s Grove or Swisher’s lots at Summit and Bowery to the third option at College Park, likely meaning College Green Park. Swisher apparently owned a substantial number of undeveloped parcels that likely were an investment for eventual development. The Swisher family was among the earliest in Johnson County settling in Monroe county on a blacksmith’s claim after he left Iowa. They later moved to Jefferson Township where the family eventually acquired more than 400 acres of land. Lovell Swisher was the oldest living son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Smith) Swisher. He married Elizabeth Leonard in 1870 and they had a house in the 400 block of Summit Street by the time of the 1880 federal census. Like other successful families of the time, they appear to have purchased or inherited a large amount of land, including several parcels on the east side of Summit Street, likely with an eye toward development or possibly for farming. The option to build a school on these parcels means the land was suitable for construction of a school at either location.. ¹⁰⁴

sides of South Summit Street in the 400 block, which is directly north of Bowery Street, occurred after 1869 with most houses built during the 1880s and 1890s except at the east side of the Bowery Street intersection which were not developed until after 1930. It is possible that volunteers had been allowed to camp in these lots as a contribution to the war effort. Camp Pope was organized on August 11, 1862. However, men of the Twenty-Second Iowa were ordered into quarters by Governor Kirkwood as early as June 16 with the last dated August 30. General Orders issued by the Iowa Adjutant General initially required men to go to the city where their training camp would be organized as soon as they were quartered or assigned a specific station to report to. Many if not most of those men would have been ordered into quarters in the two months preceding the camp organization. The Twenty-Eighth Iowa also had men arriving before August 11. They were ordered into quarters beginning on July 24 and continuing through September 8. A fair number of the men, corporals and privates, were enlisted in those two and a half weeks. These men would need somewhere to stay and many of the rank and file, farm hands and sons of less advantaged farmers, may not have had the resources to find a room in town since they were only paid once mustered in. Fourteen companies were organized and present at Camp Pope by August 27. Ten were assigned to the Twenty-Second Regiment and the excess four all went to the Twenty-Eighth Iowa. Since the men of the Twenty-Second Iowa were camped along the east side of Summit Street, and the camp had not been organized, it is possible the early arrivals for the Twenty-Eighth Iowa camped on the open lots of the Swisher property to the north of Bowery and not far from the other men. It is worth noting that none of the other accounts of the camp that were studied mention men camping north of Bowery Street and the location of the men in camp who were in tents was shown to be along the railroad grade in the second map made by S. C. Jones. It is also fair to point out that none of the Fortieth Iowa were ordered into quarters before August 11. If Pryce was correct and men did camp on open lots owned by the Swisher family, this likely was only on an informal basis by the Twenty-Eighth Iowa and possibly the Twenty-Second Iowa at an early date before the camp had fully organized and camp staff had been appointed. ¹⁰⁵

Notice for soldiers to go into quarters. State Democratic Press (Iowa City), August 30th, 1862, page 3

Camping outside the camp perimeter once it was organized and the men mustered in would have been irregular and therefore is unlikely. It is known that permission was required to enter and leave the camp by August 25 when George and Lycurgus Remley went into quarters. Once in camp, they were required to obtain permission to leave the camp to attend church or visit family friends in town. Taylor Pierce also mentioned the guards and the need for permission to leave the camp. He was chafed by not being able to wander wherever he liked, saying a guard would stop him and turn him back at the point of a sword unless he had an official pass. John Myers was tasked with finding people absent without leave from the camp. Jacob Switzer stood guard and Pryce himself recalled the guards were routinely required to turn away visitors at the entrance while suggesting a code system was set up to gain entry to the camp. There were notable exceptions where local civilians did come to the camp, such as during dress parade and the young boys who drilled in or near the camp with the blessings of the camp leaders. It is possible that Pryce, through his duties as adjutant’s assistant by way of his rank as sergeant major, had more knowledge about camp operations including support functions located outside of the main camp. These areas are mentioned for historical interest and as an exercise in validating Samuel Pryce’s recollections. In general, he is not far from the truth, though he clearly embellished his accounts and it is not possible to verify all of his recollections. This being the case, greater consideration is given to the maps provided by S.C. Jones for establishing the camp location. ¹⁰⁶

Camp Pope was intended only to be a temporary camp to aid in Iowa providing its quota of volunteers during Lincoln’s Call for 300,000 men. Operations at the camp came to a close soon after the Fortieth Iowa left for Columbus, Kentucky via Cairo, Illinois on Wednesday, December 17. The State Democratic Press reported the camp was already deserted the following Saturday. Two weeks later the barracks were auctioned off on the final day of 1862. The sale raised $1,235. Reportedly the barracks were bought by farmers and others in the community. Any not sold were intended to be demolished. The fate of these buildings, or more likely the salvaged lumber, is not known. A year after the end of the war a baseball exhibition was held on the old grounds of Camp Pope in 1867. Much of the land remained open for a number of years and before George Thatcher took over as University of Iowa president in 1871, male students used Camp Pope for intramural baseball and football games. While it is not known where in the large camp area, the relatively flat land along the east side of Summit on either side of the railroad may have been an attractive place to play sports. ¹⁰⁷

Camp Pope Location with subdivisions. Map prepared by Tim Weitzel using Johnson County Geographic Information Systems Property Information Viewer including P. J. Regan’s Addition, P. J. Regan’s Second Addition, A. E. Swisher’s Addition, The Coldren Addition, and S.J. Kirkwood Homestead Addition

Lots began to be sold in the old Camp Pope area soon after the camp closed but the rate that lots were occupied was quite slow until after 1920. Records from the Iowa City Assessor’s Office suggest all but one lot in the former Camp Pope location remained undeveloped until after 1890 with the bulk of them after 1910. One house, the former house of J. W. Clark stood in the camp in 1862. The first house built in the old camp after it was closed down is recorded as 1863. The next record of a house being built was in 1868. A man named Hass was building a retirement estate on a part of the old camp. He expected to build a residence, garden, and fruit trees. Some of the land that had been Camp Pope became Henry Strohm’s second tree nursery in 1886. P. J. Regan, who had been an employee of Strohm, succeeded him at this location. A promotional newspaper story about P. J. Regan’s expanding nursery business was printed in the Iowa City Daily Republican in 1899 noting his first nursery was located on the “old Camp Pope ground” without further location details, indicating the location given was common knowledge to their subscribers. ¹⁰⁸

Street names in 1947 for the Camp Pope vicinity. Streets that memorialize the Civil War include Sheridan Avenue, Grant Street, and Lincoln Avenue appear with red lines for emphasis. “Iowa City, 1947,” Iowa City Engineer’s Office, University of Iowa Special Collections and Archives

P. J. Regan began developing land in the former Camp Pope for residential lots in 1894. His first and second land additions, known as P. J. Regan’s Addition and P. J. Regan’s 2nd Addition were platted in 1894 and 1899. His subdivisions included parcels along the east side of Clark Street in the block south of Seymour Avenue and along the south side of Sheridan Avenue in the three blocks immediately east of Summit Street. Regan named streets in honor of people he felt deserved a memorial, including a tribute to general Philip Henry Sheridan with the naming of Sheridan Avenue. Sheridan commanded the Army of the Shenandoah that included the Twenty-Second Iowa and Twenty-Eighth Iowa where they provided exemplary service despite heavy losses. Regan also memorialized Theodore Roosevelt, who he considered another war hero Interestingly, he also added Maggard Street as a memorial to J. H. Maggard, who established the O.S. Kelly Manufacturing, Western Manufacturing factory that stood west of Regan’s second land addition and is the location of the Longfellow Manor in 2026. Maggard was Regan’s fellow Iowa City businessman and they shared several interests. Maggard’s associates who were on the board of his O. S. Kelly Manufacturing, Western Division in Iowa City were many of these same men founded the Rundell Land Improvement Company that platted the Rundell Addition to Iowa City. Perhaps as a nod to Regan, but certainly in tribute to Camp Pope, the Rundell Land Improvement Company chose the names of Grant Street and Lincoln Avenue for two streets to accompany the eastward extension of Sheridan Avenue. Lincoln Avenue was changed to Grant Court at some date after 1947. ¹⁰⁹

It is likely the knowledge of the old camp was kept alive in social memory while the reunions of military companies were occurring and veterans in Johnson County were still alive, but the exact location of the camp became more or less forgotten by the general public during the first third of the twentieth century. A quiz about forgotten landmarks in Johnson County printed in the Old Settlers’ yearbook for 1922 included Camp Pope as one of several places that people were too young to recall, a sign of generational change. It is likely the social memory faded as those who could recall the events of the camp died but the demand for housing may also have played a part. Jacob Switzer died in 1914 and Samuel D. Pryce in 1923. S. C. Jones died in December 1932, the last officer of the Twenty-Second Iowa. ¹¹⁰

____________

Note. Below is the unedited original of the copy of S. C. Jones’ 1925 map. I have reviewed catalogs and confirmed with staff at the State Historical Society of Iowa, University of Iowa Libraries, and the Iowa City Public Library that the item is not in those collections. Likewise it was not found in a search at the Library of Congress, Iowa State University Library and Archives, University of Northern Iowa Library and Archives, Wisconsin State Historical Society, University of Michigan Libraries and Archives, University of Illinois Libraries and Special Collections, University of Chicago Libraries and Special Collections, Northwestern University Library and Special Collections, New York Public Library, Internet Archive, or Hathi Trust. I assume it is a privately held item and someone had a copy that was given to me around 2006. Please contact me here to let me know if you are aware of the location of the original.

notes to page 10

90. [Samuel Calvin] Jones, Reminiscences, 1907, page 7; “Brave Boys in Blue,” Iowa City Weekly Republican, September 11th, 1895, page 8; Mildred Throne, “Document: Reminiscences of Jacob C. Switzer,” 1957; page 321; Jeffry Burden, editor, Vanishing Footprints, 2008, pages 49, 51–52 (Return ↩)

91. Sketch map of Camp Pope by S. C. Jones, 1925, photocopy in possession of the author; [Clarence] Ray Aurner, Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa History, 1912, page 224; Iowa City Assessor Records for 602 Clark Street. (Return ↩)

92. “The Reunion of the 22nd Iowa C Concludes with Election of Officers,” Iowa City Press Citizen, September 29th, 1926, page 2; “Henry Strohm, W side Summit near Desmoines,” Holland’s Iowa City Directory for 1868-9, Chicago: Western Publishing Company,1868, page 78, Des Moines Street was the name of a street that ran along the railroad tracks between the Iowa River and Gilbert Street and an imaginary line extended from its east end intersects Summit Street near Strohm’s house; “Henry Strohm, 621 South Summit,” Iowa City, Iowa, U.S. Semi-Centennial Directory, Iowa City: Republican Publishing Company, 1890; “Henry Strohm, 621 S Summit,” Iowa, Johnson, Iowa City, Voter Registers, October 22, 1896; “Henry Strohm, a nurseryman residing on Summit Street in Iowa City” History of Johnson County, Iowa, Iowa City: [no publisher provided], 1883, page 932 https://archive.org/details/historyofjohnson00iowa (Return ↩)

93. As noted earlier, an ambulance was a wagon that carried wounded soldiers; [Samuel Calvin] Jones, Reminiscences, 1907 page 7; Richard L. Kiper, editor, Dear Catharine, Dear Taylor, 2002, page 23; “Ed Finkbine’s Endless Loyalty,” Iowa City Daily Press, July 28, 1909, page 4; Al Moore, “Revisiting Iowa City After Fifty Years,” Annual Reunion for 1919, Old Settlers Association Yearbooks, 1866–1925, Coralville: Johnson County Historical Society, 1920, pages 12–13 [images 798–799] https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102881999; “A Fact a Day About Iowa City: Encamped Near City,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 11, 1934 page 8 [7 in scanned copy, page 2 missing]; “A Fact a Day About Iowa City: Civil War Mementos,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 20, 1934 page 6; Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 3, 1934, page 4l; A. Ruger, Bird’s Eye View of Iowa City, Johnson Co., Iowa 1868. Chicago: Chicago Lithographing, [1868], Library of Congress number 73693398 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4154i.pm002170 (Return ↩)

94. “A Fact a Day About Iowa City: Encamped Near City,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 11, 1934 page 8 [7 in scanned copy, page 2 missing]; Jeffry Burden, editor, Samuel D. Pryce, Vanishing Footprints, 2008, page 49; Iowa State Weekly Reporter (Iowa City), January 9th, 1861, page 3
(Return ↩)

95. [Samuel Calvin] Jones, Reminiscences, 1907, page 7; State Democratic Press (Iowa City), August 23rd, 1862, page 3; “Affairs at Camp Pope” Iowa City Weekly Republican, September 17th, 1862, page 3; Jeffry Burden, editor, Vanishing Footprints, 2008, pages 49, 51–52; “A Fact a Day About Iowa City: War Memoirs,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 3, 1934 page 4; J. H. Millar, Iowa City and Its Environs, Bryan and Miller, 1854, University of Iowa Special Collections and Archives; A. Ruger, Bird’s Eye View of Iowa City, 1868; A. T. Andreas, Andreas, “Map of Johnson County, State of Iowa,” Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, Chicago: Andreas Publishing Company, 1875, page 93 (Return ↩)

96. “A Fact a Day About Iowa City: War Memoirs,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 3, 1934 page 4; “A Fact a Day About Iowa City: Encamped Near City,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 11, 1934 page 8 [7 in scanned copy, page 2 missing] (Return ↩)

97. “A Fact a Day About Iowa City: Encamped Near City,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 11, 1934 page 8 [7 in scanned copy, page 2 missing]; Julie Holcomb, editor, Southern Sons, Northern Soldiers, 2004, page 4; Richard L. Kiper, editor, Dear Catharine, Dear Taylor, 2002, page 30 (Return ↩)

98. “Home Again,” Iowa City Republican, May 30th, 1866, page 3; Harriet A. Stevens, “A History of The Mary O. Coldren Home for Retired Persons: Established 1910,” Iowa City: Graphic Printing & Designs, 1992, page 43, Copy on File at the State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City Research Center; Johnson County GIS Property Information Viewer, Iowa City Assessor Records (Return ↩)

99. Weekly Iowa State Reporter (Iowa City), September 18th, 1861, page 3; “A Fact a Day About Iowa City: War Memoirs,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 3, 1934 page 4; the State Fair Ground location is discussed in note 80 (Return ↩)

100. Richard L. Kiper, editor, Dear Catharine, Dear Taylor, 2002, page 23; Mildred Throne, “Document: Reminiscences of Jacob C. Switzer,” 1957, page 321; Julie Holcomb, editor, Southern Sons, Northern Soldiers, 2004, page 23 ; “Levi Smith,” Holland’s Iowa City Directory for 1868–9, Chicago: Western Publishing Company, [1868]; Clarence Ray Aurner, Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa History, volume 1, 1912, page 535 (Return ↩)

101. “J. J. Waneck Found Success, Contentment in His Orchard Work,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 1, 1940, page 7; Harriet A. Stevens, “A History of The Mary O. Coldren Home for Retired Persons,” 1992, page 43 (Return ↩)

102. Jeffry Burden, editor, Vanishing Footprints, 2008, pages 49, 51–52, 292; Iowa City Daily Republican, February 18th, 1901, page 3; Daily Iowa State Press (Iowa City), February 14th, 1901, page 3; Iowa City Weekly Republican, February 27th, 1901, page 12; “Lovell Swisher,” United States Census 1880; [Clarence Ray Aurner], Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa History, volume 2, 1913, pages 339–340 (Return ↩)

103. Johnson County GIS Property Information Viewer, Iowa City Assessor Records https://www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov/gis/interactive-maps
(Return ↩)

104. Iowa City Daily Republican, February 18th, 1901, page 3; Daily Iowa State Press (Iowa City), February 14th, 1901, page 3; Iowa City Weekly Republican, February 27th, 1901, page 12; [Clarence Ray Aurner], Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa History, volume 2, 1913, pages 339–340; “Lovell Swisher,” United States Census 1880; “Lovell Swisher, Elizabeth Leonard,” Iowa, County Marriages, 1838–1934, FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XJ31-FQJ (Return ↩)

105. Iowa Adjutant General, “Twenty-Second Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry,” and “Twenty-Eighth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry,” Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers, volume 3, 1910, pages 559, 1229; Iowa Adjutant General, “Fortieth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry,” Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers, volume 5, 1911, page 1047; N. B. Baker, “State of Iowa, Adjutant General’s Office,” Daily Democrat and News (Davenport), August 15, 1862, page 1; “Matters at Camp Pope,” Iowa City Weekly Republican, August 27th, 1862, page 2 (Return ↩)

106. Jeffery C. Burden, editor, Samuel D. Pryce, Vanishing Footprints, 2008; page 49, 51–52; United States Census 1910, Daily Iowa State Press (Iowa City), February 14th, 1901, page 3; Iowa City Weekly Republican, February 27th, 1901, page 12; Julie Holcomb, editor, Southern Sons, Northern Soldiers, 2004, Page 3; Richard L. Kiper, editor, Dear Catharine, Dear Taylor, 2002, page 23; John Myers to Cecelia Myers, October 20, 1862; Mildred Throne, “Document: Reminiscences of Jacob C. Switzer,” 1957, page 321 (Return ↩)

107. State Democratic Press (Iowa City), December 20th, 1862, page 3; [Clarence] Ray Aurner, Leading Events, volume 1, 1912, page 523; Theodore A. Wanerus, “Presidents of the University, number 6, George Thatcher 1871–1877,” Iowa Alumnus, volume 9, 1911–1912, page 211 https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100646661, The other location for intramural sports was near the Rock Island Railroad line in “Irishtown,” which places it roughly in the area from Wright Street to Harrison Street on the flat ground between Dubuque and Clinton Streets. (Return ↩)

108. “Change of Firm,” Iowa City Weekly Republican, January 22nd, 1868, page 3; “Busy Industries,” Iowa City Daily Republican, April 19th, 1893; “Another Big Enterprise,” Iowa City Daily Republican, June 24th, 1899, page 6 (Return ↩)

109. Details of Regan and Maggard’s business interests will be covered in another essay. Iowa City Engineer’s Office, “Iowa City, 1947” https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/node/93268 (Return ↩)

110. Annual Reunion for 1922, Old Settlers Association Yearbooks, 1866–1925, Coralville: Johnson County Historical Society, 1923, page 24 [image 916] https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102881999; “Jacob Carroll Switzer,” Iowa Death Records, 1904–1951”, FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP5T-XK2D; “Capt. Pryce Laid to Rest with Honors,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 24, 1923, page 3; “Samuel Pryce,” United States, Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907–1933”, FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2M2R-DCH; “Samuel Calvin Jones,” Iowa Death Records, 1904–1951,” FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:68CG-BDZ6 (Return ↩)