Cedar Rapids, city (2020 pop.
137,710), seat of Linn co., E central Iowa, on the Cedar River; inc. as a
city 1856. The second largest city in Iowa, it is named for the surging
rapids in the river. It is a commercial and industrial city as well as a
distribution and rail center for an extensive agricultural area.
Manufactures include food and beverages, electrical equipment, machinery,
and metal and plastic products. Coe College and Mt. Mercy College are there.
Of note are the city's Masonic Library (1884); an art museum with a
collection by the artist Grant Wood; the National Czech and Slovak
Museum (1995); and Municipal Island, a strip of land in the main channel of
the Cedar River, on which the municipal building and a neoclassical war
memorial are located. In 2008 Cedar Rapids suffered the worst flooding in
its history; roughly one seventh of the city was inundated. The Duane Arnold
Energy Center, the first nuclear-powered generator in Iowa, is nearby.
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