HoubyDaysBooklet 2025 digital - Flipbook - Page 9
Czech immigration skyrocketed after the packinghouse was up
and running. As a result, several businesses and organizations were
established the area centered around 3rd Street SE. Among the earliest
ones were the Czech School (1870), Sokol (1873), St. Wenceslaus
Catholic Church (1874), CSPS Hall (built in 1891), and ZCBJ (organized
in 1897). There was a 昀氀urry of activity in this "second downtown" section
of Cedar Rapids including movie theatres, jewelry stores, butcher shops,
grocery stores, funeral homes, dry goods stores, a livery, taverns, and
distinctive immigrant housing on small, narrow lots (the only place in
town that has these unusual plot dimensions). This area is now known as
New Bohemia.
The Czech community did not occupy 16th Avenue SW until around
1900. The southwest side of town was originally a Russian, Italian,
and Syrian neighborhood (note the Gatto Building and the Klinger
Building). But, with new opportunities opening up on the southwest
side, the Czechs expanded their neighborhood. Among the early Czech
businesses established included a butcher shop, pharmacy, bakery,
dry goods store, grocery store, and cigar factories. The Avenue saw
tremendous change when the starch works factory opened in 1903.
A 昀氀ood of new jobs led to major investments on the Avenue, including
larger buildings, a bank, and more retail spaces.
The west side neighborhood reached its peak in the 1940s, though
by the 1970s the once commonly spoken Czech language was heard
less often. Interest in preserving and celebrating the history and heritage
brought by Czech immigrants led to the formation of the Czech Heritage
Foundation and the Czech Fine Arts Foundation. The Avenue was
marketed as the Czech Village to promote tourism to the area. A Czech
Festival began in 1973, while Houby Days debuted in May 1978. The
Czech Fine Arts Foundation opened the Czech Museum and Library in
1978, which grew to become the National Czech & Slovak Museum &
Library (NCSML). The NCSML moved into a new building dedicated in
1995 by presidents Bill Clinton (US), Václav Havel (Czech Republic), and
Michal Kováč (Slovakia).
Both neighborhoods were affected by the record Flood of 2008. The
NCSML’s building was moved and raised while new levees and walls
were constructed to protect against future 昀氀ooding. The New Bohemia
neighborhood has been reinvigorated by converting a former warehouse
on 3rd Street SE to become the home of the NewBo City Market, along
with the construction of several new mixed use properties.
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