page_title: Iowa City, Iowa
section_title: Local landmarks
hierarchical_section_title: Iowa City, Iowa / Arts and culture / Local landmarks
caption_attribution_description: English: Black Angel Statue, Oakland Cemetery, Iowa City
context_page_description: Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 75,130 in 2019, making it the state's fifth-largest city. The metropolitan area, which encompasses Johnson and Washington counties, has a population of over 171,000. The Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area is also a part of a Combined Statistical Area with the Cedar Rapids MSA. This CSA plus two additional counties are known as the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids region which collectively has a population of nearly 500,000.
  Iowa City was the second capital of the Iowa Territory and the first capital city of the State of Iowa. The Old Capitol building is a National Historic Landmark in the center of the University of Iowa campus. The University of Iowa Art Museum and Plum Grove, the home of the first Governor of Iowa, are also tourist attractions. In 2008, Forbes magazine named Iowa City the second-best small metropolitan area for doing business in the United States.
context_section_description: Hancher Auditorium often hosts nationally touring theater, dance and musical shows, and has commissioned more than 100 works of music, theater and dance during the last 20 years. This facility was badly damaged during the Iowa flood of 2008 and the facility has been rebuilt farther uphill, away from the Iowa River and reopened in Fall of 2016.
  Hamburg Inn No. 2 is a favorite campaign stop for political candidates. It was featured in a 2005 episode of the political drama The West Wing. It has also been a favored campaign stop for many U.S. Presidents, including Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. It was featured in The New York Times for its widely renowned "pie shakes."
  Oakland Cemetery contains graves of notable locals as well as the "Black Angel" statue.
  Plum Grove Historic House was the residence of Robert Lucas, the first territorial governor of Iowa, and the novelist Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd.
  Moffitt cottages, built in a unique vernacular architectural style, are scattered around eastern Iowa City. "These mystical dwellings look as if Germanic elves constructed houses for Irish pixies," is how one writer described them.
  Prospect Hill
  Ned Ashton House, built as a private residence by Iowa bridge engineer Ned Ashton in 1947, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. Today, it is a popular venue that can accommodate up to 100 people for meetings, reunions, parties, weddings and receptions along the banks of the Iowa River.
caption: Black Angel, Oakland Cemetery
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