Editing Burlington, Iowa (section)

== History ==
Prior to European settlement, the area was neutral territory for the [[Sauk people|Sauk]] and [[Meskwaki]] peoples, who called it Shoquoquon (''Shok-ko-kon''), meaning Flint Hills.<ref>{{citation|title=About The Hawk Eye|url=http://spanky.thehawkeye.com/hawkeye/about.html |work=The Hawk Eye Newspaper|access-date=September 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001083916/http://spanky.thehawkeye.com/hawkeye/about.html|archive-date=October 1, 2011}}.</ref>

In 1803, President [[Thomas Jefferson]] organized two parties of explorers to map the [[Louisiana Purchase]]. The [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] followed the [[Missouri River]], while [[Zebulon Pike|Lt. Zebulon Pike]] followed the [[Mississippi River]]. In 1805, Pike landed at the bluffs below Burlington and raised the [[Flag of the United States|United States Flag]] for the first time on what would become Iowa soil and recommended construction of a fort. The recommendation went unheeded.
[[File:Burlington IA Barber 1865p525 cropped.jpg|thumb|left|{{center|Burlington in 1865.}}]]

The [[American Fur Company]] of [[John Jacob Astor]] established a post in the area in 1829. Settlement began in 1833, shortly after the [[Black Hawk Purchase]], when Samuel (aka Simpson) White, Amzi Doolitle, and [[Morton M. McCarver]] crossed the [[Mississippi River]] from Big Island and staked claims there.<ref name=Antrobus>{{cite book|last=Antrobus|first=Augustine M.|title=History of Des Moines County, Iowa|year=1915|publisher=The S. J. Clarke publishing company|pages=95|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENc_AAAAYAAJ&q=mccarver%20Burlington&pg=PA95|volume=1}}</ref><ref name="annals of iowa">{{cite journal|last=Negus|first=Charles|title=The Early History of Iowa|journal=Annals of Iowa|year=1869|volume=7|issue=2–4|pages=145|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TU8zAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA145 |publisher=Iowa Division of Historical Museum and Archives, State Historical Society of Iowa}}</ref><ref name=mccarver>{{cite journal|last=Meany|first=Edmond S.|title=Morton Matthew McCarver Frontier City Builder|journal=Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1909|year=1911|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-1YLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA173 |page=174|publisher=American Historical Association}}</ref> According to an account A.T. Andreas wrote in 1875,{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} White erected a cabin in the area, later platted to be Front Street between Court and High streets. Andreas called White and Doolittle the [[Romulus and Remus]] of their settlement, referring to the mythic heroes who founded Rome, a city surrounded by hills. A few weeks later, William R. Ross joined them and established a general store. In November and December, he surveyed the settlement for White and Doolittle.<ref>Huff, S. W. (Ed.), ''Annals of Iowa, Vol. VII'' ([[Iowa City]]: [[State Historical Society of Iowa]], 1869), [https://books.google.com/books?id=75YUAAAAYAAJ&dq=William%20R.%20Ross%2C%20White%20and%20Doolittle&pg=PA145 p. 145].</ref>{{rp|145}}

In the spring of 1834 they allowed John Gray, who purchased the first lot with his wife Eliza Jane, to rename the town for $50. Gray chose to name it Burlington in honor of his [[Burlington, Vermont|hometown in Vermont]].<ref>{{Citation|title=NAMED THIS CITY|date=September 22, 1896|work=Burlington Gazette}}.</ref> The Grays' daughter Abigail was born in Burlington that same year, the first European-descended American settler child born on Iowa soil.{{efn|John Gray was of European descent. Eliza Jane Gray was of mixed African American and Native American heritage.}}{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

In 1837, Burlington was designated the second territorial capital of the [[Wisconsin Territory]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Hoffmann |first=Gregg |url=http://www.onmilwaukee.com/visitors/articles/beyondbelmont.html |title=Travel & Visitors Guide: Beyond Milwaukee: Belmont was Wisconsins first capital |publisher=Onmilwaukee.com |date=May 10, 2004 |access-date=2011-09-19}}</ref> The [[Iowa Territory]] was organized in the following year, and Burlington was named as its first territorial capital.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://iagenweb.org/history/soi/soi31.htm |title=How Iowa Became A Territory |publisher=Iagenweb.org |access-date=2011-09-19}}</ref> The government used "Old Zion", the first Methodist Church in Iowa (located near what is now Third and Washington streets), to conduct its business. A [[historical marker]] commemorates the site of the church and early territorial government.

On May 22, 1849, Maj. William Williams visited Burlington, writing a brief description in his journal:<ref name="williams1">{{cite journal|last=Williams|first=William|year=1920|title=Major William Williams' Journal of a Trip to Iowa in 1849|journal=Annals of Iowa|volume=12|issue=4|pages=246–247, edited for minor spelling and punctuation}}</ref>

{{blockquote|This town [was] originally called Flint Hill- the Indian name was Shoquokon, Flint or Rock Hill. [It is] beautifully elevated, situated on the west side of the Mississippi River, a place of very considerable business. The town is very well built. Houses are good, generally taste[ful], brick dwellings. A great many handsome residences on the more elevated parts of the bluff. The number of inhabitants between 3,000 and 3,500. ... Was the first seat of government after the formation of the Territory of Iowa. The view of the city is extremely picturesque from the river. The main part of the city is situated like an amphitheater formed by the surrounding hills, beautiful buildings and private residences on the eminences around. From the location of Burlington it must always be a place of considerable trade. The city is well built [in the] modern style, a very intelligent population... The river here is over 3/4 of mile wide and steam ferry boats constantly plying between this and the Illinois shore.|Maj. William Williams}}
[[File:Lady Liberty of Burlington.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Lady Liberty of Burlington]]

In April 1885, economist [[Henry George]] gave a speech titled "The Crime of Poverty" at the Burlington [[Knights of Labor]] [[Local union|local]] advocating for a [[citizen's dividend]] paid for by a [[land value tax]].<ref>{{cite book|last=George|first=Henry|author-link=Henry George|year=1901|orig-year=1885|title=Our Land and Land Policy: Speeches, Lectures and Miscellaneous Writings|chapter=The Crime of Poverty|publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday and McClure Company]]|pages=217–218|isbn=978-0526825431|quote=As an English friend of mine puts it: No taxes and a pension for everybody; and why should it not be? To take land values for public purposes is not really to impose a tax, but to take for public purposes a value created by the community. And out of the fund which would thus accrue from the common property, we might, without degradation to anybody, provide enough to actually secure from want all who were deprived of their natural protectors or met with accident, or any man who should grow so old that he could not work. All prating that is heard from some quarters about its hurting the common people to give them what they do not work for is humbug. The truth is, that anything that injures self-respect, degrades, does harm; but if you give it as a right, as something to which every citizen is entitled to, it does not degrade. Charity schools do degrade children that are sent to them, but public schools do not.}}</ref>

Iowa's nickname, "[[Hawkeye state|The Hawkeye State]]", has its roots in Burlington. At Judge David Rorer's suggestion, publisher James G. Edwards changed ''The Iowa Patriot'' newspaper's name to ''The Hawk-Eye and Iowa Patriot'' in tribute to his friend, Chief [[Black Hawk (chief)|Black Hawk]]. Rorer is said to have found the name in [[James Fenimore Cooper]]'s ''[[The Last of the Mohicans]],'' but Edwards proposed the nickname to "...rescue from oblivion {{sic}} a momento {{sic}}, at least of the name of the old chief."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.netstate.com/states/intro/ia_intro.htm |title=The State of Iowa – An Introduction to the Hawkeye State from |publisher=Netstate.Com |access-date=2011-09-19}}</ref>

Burlington was a bustling river port in the [[steamboat]] era and a central city to the [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]]. The "Burlington Route" (1848–1970) merged into the [[Burlington Northern Railroad]] (1970–1996), which in turn merged into the [[BNSF Railway]] (1997–present). The "Burlington" name has been given to one of the United States' largest railroads. One of BNSF's main east-west lines, the Ottumwa subdivision, still crosses the Mississippi at Burlington.

In 1970, the community had its highest ever population.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gabriel|first=Trip|url=https://nytimes.com/2021/04/27/us/politics/iowa-democrats-republicans.html|title=Why Iowa Has Become Such a Heartbreaker for Democrats|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=2021-04-27|accessdate=2023-05-28}}</ref>

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In the late twentieth century, retail expanded with suburbanization of the population. After purchasing Benner Tea, [[Aldi]] opened its first store in the United States at Burlington in 1976.<ref>{{cite news | last = Johnson | first = Patt | title = Aldi to open Windsor Heights store | url = https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/new-business/2015/09/10/aldi-windsor-heights-store/72029716/ | work = [[The Des Moines Register|The Register and Tribune]] | location = [[Des Moines, Iowa|Des Moines]] | date = September 10, 2015 | access-date = September 7, 2017}}</ref><ref name=ConquerUS>{{cite news | last = Weymouth | first = Lauren | title = Secrets of the German supermarkets conquering America (24 slides) | url = https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/secrets-of-the-german-supermarkets-conquering-america/ss-AAqAXE5?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=mailsignout#image=1 | work = MSN: Money | access-date = September 7, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170907214827/http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/secrets-of-the-german-supermarkets-conquering-america/ss-AAqAXE5?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=mailsignout#image=1 | archive-date = September 7, 2017 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> [[Westland Mall (West Burlington)|Westland Mall]] opened in nearby [[West Burlington, Iowa|West Burlington]] in 1977.