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More from the Travel Enthusiast...

An excerpt from: An American Parody
(American Gothic House [Site of "American Gothic" by Grant Wood], Eldon, Iowa)

During a trip to Eldon, Iowa, in 1930, Grant Wood was being driven around town by local artist, John Sharp when he spotted the house with the church window that would someday be part of “American Gothic.” He got out of the car, pulled out an envelope and began sketching the house. Wood said he wanted to paint the people he imagined lived in a house with such a window.

Wood used the sketch from the house as the background for the painting and later painted his sister Nan and his dentist, Dr. B. H. McKeeby, as the stand-ins for the home’s owners.

It is unknown why the gothic window, a fixture most appropriate for a church, was put in the house. Some speculate that the family saw the window as a small luxury to add to their decor.

As a longtime Eldon resident, Donna Jeffrey grew up near the American Gothic House, which had no formal marking until the Center was built. She assisted with fundraising projects and grant writing. Jeffrey volunteers at the Center on a regular basis.

“When I was a kid, my grandmother lived down the lane behind the house, and we would walk from our home to my grandma’s, and my mom and dad would always say, ‘that house is in the background of a famous painting’,” Jeffrey said. “People here in Eldon just grew up knowing that."

To read more, visit http://detoursmagazine.com/summer-2010/49-destinations/128-american-parody 

Anecdotes of a Travel Enthusiast

As a writer for Detours Magazine, my assignments take me on great Midwest adventures and allow me to interview all sorts of neat people who are very passionate about their interests and community. The story I am currently working on involves a lengthy touring bicycle ride... but that's all I can tell you for now! In the meantime, enjoy reading one or two of my older stories.


An excerpt from: "Criminal Carousel"
(Squirrel Cage Jail; Council Bluffs, Iowa)

In 1884, Cottonwood Jail burned down and the county was forced to house prisoners in a single room in the courthouse basement. The “Squirrel Cage,” as locals know it, is a rotary or “lazy-Susan” style jailhouse, built in 1885.

The rotary design of the jail was chosen for the Pottawattamie County Jail because the facility was designed to hold about 60 prisoners with only one jailer. However, there are accounts of as many as five men being put in each two-man cell. Each cell consisted of two bunks and a small privy, or primitive toilet system, in the inner part of the cell.

The Squirrel Cage structure is in the shape of a cylinder with each level divided up like a pie. The severity of the crime committed would dictate the level on which an inmate would be housed. The first floor housed petty crime criminals, while murderers were held on the third floor.

A giant crank installed on the second floor of the jail rotated the cells and opened up to three cells at one time. On each level, a small door opened to allow the prisoners to exit their cells, one cell at a time. Because the jail only rotated in one direction, if a prisoner on the backside of the facility needed to be let out, every cell in the facility turned until the prisoner needing to be let out had arrived at the small door.

Council Bluffs resident Donna Perdue visited the Squirrel Cage Jail for the first time this summer after having lived in the area her whole life.

“It is the meaning of the word punishment versus what we have today, which just seems like you are going to camp,” Perdue said. “This is punishment. You wouldn’t want to come back.”

To read more, visit http://detoursmagazine.com/winter-2009/43-destinations/109-criminal-carousel-