Curious Iowa: How were Cedar Rapids’ quadrants established?

CEDAR RAPIDS — Whether you’re a longtime northwest-side Cedar Rapidian who rebuilt after the 2008 flood, or a southeast quadrant resident drawn to the arts and cultural hub that is the New Bohemia District, Cedar Rapids’ quadrants for decades have distinguished different parts of the city.

But why does the city have quadrants? And why aren’t they laid out squarely?

Curious Iowa is a series from The Gazette that seeks to answer questions about the state, its culture and the people who live here. This week we answer a question submitted by a reader about Cedar Rapids’ quadrants: “In a state laid out on NESW grid, how did Cedar Rapids get laid out on the bias, and why was the system of quadrants established?”

Council decision made quadrants

The Cedar River separates the east from the west, and First Avenue is the city’s north-south dividing line. These divisions create the northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest quadrants.

But the city wasn’t always laid out this way.

In the early 1840s, Cedar Rapids existed on the east side of the river and the village of Kingston was on the west side. Cedar Rapids village planners decided to align the city’s newly created streets with the direction of the river, creating the existing bias, Cedar Rapids historian Mark Stoffer Hunter said.

Kingston laid out its town plat of streets to align with the river as well, Stoffer Hunter said. But it differed from Cedar Rapids’ alignment somewhat, so the streets did not line up on both sides of the river. The competing communities had no bridges at this early stage of development in the 1840s.

Cedar Rapids annexed Kingston in 1871, and by this time bridges connected both sides of the river, Stoffer Hunter said.

“Cedar Rapids and the newly designated ‘West’ Cedar Rapids put up with all these different street names” for more than 10 years, Stoffer Hunter said.

That lasted until Cedar Rapids’ quadrant system was established in a controversial decision by the Cedar Rapids City Council in 1882, said Tara Templeman, a curator at The History Center.

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“Council made sweeping changes to the street names at that point, removing word names and replacing them all with numbers,” Templeman wrote in an email. “This decision also included a change to the way houses and businesses were numbered. The idea was that this would simplify things and make it easier to navigate the city and know where you were.”

An 1883 street directory said the change “renders it very easy to locate” the streets.

Roads running east and west, crossing the river, are called “avenues.” Roads running north and south, crossing First Avenue, are called “streets.” Starting at the river on either side, the streets are numbered from one up. A road is north or south based on its direction from First Avenue. A road is east or west based on its direction from the river.

Change ‘created quite a flurry’

The Times reported at the time that the council decision “has created quite a flurry among some of our citizens.”

“Public meetings have been called and resolutions denouncing the act of the council as uncalled for and unwarranted by law, have been passed and the council requested to rescind their action — but the new names on the street corners still remain and the council don’t seem to know or care that anybody is ‘kicking,’” the Times reported.

Other citizens didn’t seem as interested in the matter, the Times observed, suggesting there was “no necessity” for these meetings and resolutions.

“While we regret, as much as any one, that the names so long familiar in connection with our streets should be so suddenly wiped out of existence, we can readily see that the new order will be much more simple and convenient when we once become accustomed to it,” the Times wrote.

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City growth prompts change in 1930s

Because the east side was larger, more established and contained the main downtown business district in the 1880s, Stoffer Hunter said all east side numbered streets were listed without a direction. A business on First Avenue on the east side would be listed as 215 First Ave.

On the west side, it had to be listed as 215 First Avenue West or with the abbreviated “w.” at the end. A business on First Street West but south of the street would be listed as South First Street West. A business north of First Avenue West would be listed as North First Street West.

Streets were identified this way until the early 1930s, Stoffer Hunter said.

“As Cedar Rapids grew, the directions of both First Avenues East and West changed, making things more confusing as to what was north and south and east and west,” Stoffer Hunter said.

He said the current quadrant system was established shortly after the new City Hall within the Veterans Memorial Building on May's Island was complete in 1929. Under that system:

City directories show the new quadrant system firmly in use by 1934 and 1935.

Quadrants help city organize staff

Mike Duffy, Cedar Rapids’ assistant public works director, said in an email the quadrants help organize staff.

For instance, after the 2020 derecho, crews worked in all quadrants of the city with emphasis on areas of high need, such as the established areas on the east side with mature trees that took longer to cut up and remove. A hired third party helped remove debris, but all removed material was tracked for payment and federal reimbursement.

“Staffing by quadrant has some real positives,” Duffy said. “Our crews are very familiar and take pride in the service they provide and the work done in each quadrant. Simple things like coordinating sweeping with garbage collection or learning traffic and parking patterns that can be beneficial during snow removal.”

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Quadrant loyalties

Some Cedar Rapidians are fiercely loyal to certain quadrants, each coming with their own identities and histories.

Amy Johnson, 61, was a longtime KGAN anchor after moving to Cedar Rapids to work in TV in 1987. Originally from Minnesota, she wanted to be near the water and moved to the northwest side. She’s lived in various homes in southeast Cedar Rapids since 1990.

Johnson said she loves this part of town not only because it’s full of mature trees and historic homes, being the oldest part of the city where core neighborhoods like Wellington Heights are located. It offers beauty and opulence as well as difficult realities of the community such as poverty and homelessness.

“It’s the cross-section of the very rich and the very poor,” Johnson said. “You get the most diverse mix of people on the southeast side, and for me it’s a beautiful thing and also a reality check. There are people that are incredibly needy and it reminds me to help the less fortunate. There are people who are incredibly wealthy, and that reminds me as a human that we all need to share a little of the wealth.”

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Al Pierson, president of the Northwest Neighbors Neighborhood Association, has deep roots in the northwest quadrant. His grandparents in 1928 bought an existing shop and relocated from Burlington to start Pierson’s Flower Shop, which he runs today on Ellis Boulevard NW.

“I grew up knowing the quadrant system, and as a preteen I helped my dad get deliveries out. I went with delivery drivers and helped them run packages up to the door,” guided by the city’s quadrants and street naming system, Pierson said.

He grew up next to the flower shop, moved to the southeast side for 25 years and later returned to live in the northwest quadrant. Over the years, Pierson said the area has added new development and more things to do, and permanent flood protection is on the way — breaking down the historic east-west side divide.

“The people were friendly, the people were nice, they’re hard working,” Pierson said of why he loves the northwest side. “Recreation opportunities were great here” given its proximity to the river and Ellis Park and golf course being in the neighborhood.

Mary Moore, board president of Friends of Noelridge, said she moved to northeast Cedar Rapids 10 years ago from the southeast side and has lived in the city for 35 years. She said the northeast quadrant has a reputation for great neighborhoods and is accessible to various activities and public spaces.

“I like that we’re in a quiet, friendly neighborhood,” Moore said. “I like it that we’re in close proximity to shopping and restaurants. We’re very close to access to the interstate (380), and I love it that I’m close to Noelridge Greenhouse where I volunteer and Prairiewoods” Franciscan Spirituality Center.

Leslie Charipar, 57, grew up on the southwest side, where her Czech family planted roots years ago. She and her family remain there today, though she lived on the southeast side for some time.

“Growing up, I always felt like the city was divided in half — west side, east side,” Charipar said. “The west side folks, at least traditionally, were a lot of blue collar and farmers. I always felt like I was that blue-collar farmer crowd as opposed to the east side, which was the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich. I had pride in my working family, and I felt like the west side was the authentic side.”

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Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com