Cedar Rapids, the “City of Five Seasons", is located in the eastern part of the state of Iowa.http://www.cedar-rapids.org/things-to-see-do/city-of-five-seasons/Pages/default.aspx It is the county seat of Linn County and was founded in 1849.http://www.cedar-rapids.org/city-council/form-of-government/Pages/default.aspx The city is the regional hub of Eastern Iowa because of its short distance from many major metropolitan areas. Cedar Rapids is the second-largest producer of wild energy in the United States.http://www.cedar-rapids.org/things-to-see-do/about-cedar-rapids/pages/default.aspx The city is also the largest corn-processing city in the world.http://www.cedar-rapids.org/things-to-see-do/about-cedar-rapids/pages/default.aspx

Cedar Rapids is home to Class Single-A baseball team, the Cedar Rapids Kernels, and Tier 1 junior ice hockey team, the Cedar Rapids Roughriders of the United States Hockey League.http://www.cedar-rapids.org

In 1838, European settler Osgood Sheperd arrived in the area and lived on the east side of the Cedar River previously inhabited by the San and Fox Indians. In 1841, a survey was made and the town was named Rapids City after the rapids on the Cedar River. The name of the town was changed to Cedar Rapids in 1848.http://books.google.com/books?id=SYEUAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Linn+County+Iowa&hl=en&ei=W5PiTPTVE8P9nQe81sWMDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false A dam was constructed across the river to provide power for the lumber and grist industries. The town of Kingston was later annexed to Cedar Rapids in 1870.http://books.google.com/books?id=SYEUAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Linn+County+Iowa&hl=en&ei=W5PiTPTVE8P9nQe81sWMDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Bohemians arrived in Cedar Rapids in the 1850s. The Bohemians worked in the local packing plants and “Little Bohemia” was established in the southwest area of the city. The first Bohemian lawyer in the United States, Joseph Sosel, was smuggled out of Czechoslovakia when he was accused of opposing the Czech government. In Cedar Rapids, Sosel began to play a role in the city.http://books.google.com/books?id=SYEUAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Linn+County+Iowa&hl=en&ei=W5PiTPTVE8P9nQe81sWMDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false In 1869, the Bohemians founded The Reading Society.

In 1871, T.M. Sinclair arrived from Ireland. Sinclair founded one of largest meatpacking companies in the United States, the T.M. Sinclair Company.http://books.google.com/books?id=SYEUAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Linn+County+Iowa&hl=en&ei=W5PiTPTVE8P9nQe81sWMDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Other companies such as Quaker-Oats were also established in the 1870s. Greene’s Opera House and the Cedar Rapids Business College were established in the 1880s.

Cedar Rapids lies at latitude 41° 58'N and longitude 91° 40'W.http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=798 The city has a land area of 53.5 square miles and the elevation is 727 feet above sea level.http://www.idcide.com/citydata/ia/cedar-rapids.htm The annual average temperature is 50F and the annual average precipitation is 36.62 inches.http://www.idcide.com/citydata/ia/cedar-rapids.htm The city is located on the Cedar River on rolling terrain in eastern Iowa. The area is surrounded by limestone bluffs, rivers, and lakes.

• The Indian Creek Nature Center: Founded in 1973, the center has a 240-acre nature preserve and an interpretive center in a 1932 dairy barn.http://www.indiancreeknaturecenter.org/about.asp
• Ushers Ferry Historic Village: The village has 20 historic buildings that show how life was in Iowa between the years of 1890 and 1910.http://www.cedar-rapids.org/resident-resources/parks-recreation/ushers-ferry/pages/default.aspx
• The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art: Founded in 1905, the museum has artifacts from Cedar Rapid's history.http://www.crma.org/Content/About.aspx
• The National Czech & Slovak Museum: Founded in 1974, the museum preserves Czech heritage and culture.http://www.ncsml.org/Content/About-Us/Museum-History.aspx
• Grant Wood Studio: Owned and operated by the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, the studio is home to the world’s largest collection of works by Grant Wood.http://www.crma.org/content/grant_wood/Grant_Wood_Studio.aspx

• Trent Green: Former NFL Football Player
• Elijah Wood: Actor
• Riley Smith: Actor
• Ashton Kutcher: Actor
• Michael Emerson: Actor
• Terry Farrell: Actress
• Carl Van Vetchen: Actorhttp://www.juggle.com/cedar-rapids