History Happenings: Why is it called Time Check?

One of the primary reasons organizations like The History Center are so important to our community is that they provide an opportunity for longtime residents and transplants alike to learn the origins of places and ideas that underpin the present.

Take, for example, the neighborhood known as “Time Check.”

In a recent edition of The History Center’s “Chew on This!” lunch and learn series, program manager Jenny Thielman shared a host of fascinating stories about the northwest Cedar Rapids neighborhood — including why Time Check is called Time Check.

Growing up in Cedar Rapids, the older of your two scribes assumed Time Check was actually named “Time Czech,” a not wholly ridiculous assumption given how proud the community is of its rich Czech and Slovak heritage.

He also may have also associated the name with a short segment that used to air on KCRG: KCRG time is the right time, checked regularly by the atomic clock in Boulder, Colo.

An atomic clock seemed pretty fascinating — much more so than checking the time by, say, your digital watch.

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The real reason

Thielman’s presentation, though, included the actual reason the neighborhood bears its particular name.

The neighborhood first came into being in the early 1870s, and many of the early residents worked in the Quaker Oats railroad yards across the river. These workers made their way to the yards by walking across the railroad bridge over the Cedar River near K Avenue NW.

Those railroad workers were paid with postdated checks known as “time- delayed checks.” That nomenclature got shortened in the way such things do to become “time checks.” The neighborhood came to be known as Time Check because of the many workers who lived there and were paid in this manner.

The ways in which Cedar Rapids neighborhoods acquired their names is an interesting topic, and one to which we may return. (We’d love to hear your stories about your neighborhood and your understanding of why it is called what it is. You can reach us at HistoricalClines@gmail.com.)

Ellis Park

The Chew on This! presentation also explored the history of a place with a more obvious connection to its name.

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Ellis Park is named for Robert Ellis, who on the morning of May 8, 1838, was walking a trail along the Cedar River when he encountered high water and had to change course. Eventually, he reached a high point and looked out over a large expanse of rolling prairie — an expanse that would eventually be transformed into the city of Cedar Rapids.

Ellis liked the spot enough to mark out an estimated claim (estimated due to the lack of a surveyor in the area) of 160 acres — blazing the trees to identify the area he wished to possess. It would be two years before he made any changes to the land, waiting until it officially came into the market under the jurisdiction of the government land office.

After spending several years in California during the Gold Rush, Ellis return to Cedar Rapids in 1856 and built his frame house atop the hill from which he had surveyed the area years before.

In 1901, the city of Cedar Rapids purchased 47 acres from Ellis to create Ellis Park. Pleased with the proposed use of his land, Ellis sold those acres to city at half of their actual value. Ellis Park, of course, remains a vibrant green space for all members of our community to enjoy.

Western College next

We have shared only a couple of the fascinating details Thielman presented during the Chew on This! event. We encourage you to mark you calendars for the next event in the series, which will explore the history of Western College, a small college established by the United Brethren Church in 1856 in the town of Western, 8 miles south of Cedar Rapids. You’ll learn why the college was founded and what led to its demise.

That edition of Chew on This! is set for 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14, at The History Center. More information is available at historycenter.org.

Jessica Cline is a Leadership & Character Scholar at Wake Forest University. Her dad, Rob Cline, is not a scholar of any kind. They write this monthly column for The History Center. Comments: HistoricalClines@gmail.com