Editing Coralville, Iowa (section)

==History==
[[Image:Iowa archaeology edgewater.JPG|thumb|left|Excavations at the Late Archaic [[Edgewater Park Site]]; courtesy OSA.]]
[[Image:Coralville iowa 1870.jpg|thumb|left|Coralville mills in 1870.]]
Coralville is the location of the [[Edgewater Park Site]], a 3,800-year-old archaeological site along the [[Iowa River]]. Edgewater is the oldest site in Iowa with evidence of domesticated plant use.

Coralville incorporated as a city on June 1, 1857. The city's name is derived from the [[fossil]]s that are found in the [[limestone]] along the Iowa River. In 1864, [[Louis Agassiz]], a [[Harvard University]] [[Zoology|zoologist]], gave a lecture at the nearby [[University of Iowa]] titled "The Coral Reefs of Iowa City".<ref>"Prof. Agassiz's lecture." ''Iowa City Republican'', March 9, 1864.</ref> During the lecture, he presented local samples of fossilized [[Devonian]] period [[coral]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.igwa.org/devonian.asp|title=Devonian Fossil Gorge|author=Brian Glenister|website=Iowa Groundwater Association|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704074630/http://www.igwa.org/devonian.asp|archive-date=July 4, 2008}}</ref> The lecture was well received and helped raise public interest in the local fossils. In 1866, more corals were discovered at the site of a new mill, inspiring the citizens of the area to name the settlement "Coralville".<ref>"A new town." ''Iowa State Press'', December 19, 1866.</ref> The first mill at Coralville was built in 1844, and in the years that followed, a number of [[watermill]]s were powered by the Coralville mill [[dam]] along the Iowa River,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iajohnso/Postcard13.htm|title=Saturday Postcard 195: Coralville – Mills Aplenty!|author=Bob Hibbs|date=May 24, 2003|website=JOHNSON COUNTY IAGenWeb Project|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601053141/http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iajohnso/Postcard13.htm|archive-date=June 1, 2008}}</ref> but all of the mills had closed by 1900, except for a low-head [[hydroelectric]] plant that remained in operation until the mid 20th century.

Coralville is also the location where some 1300 [[Mormon handcart pioneers|Mormon immigrants]] stopped to make camp in their migration of 1856 after having traveled west by rail to Iowa City, which was the westernmost rail terminus at the time.  They built [[Cart|handcarts]] out of native woods during their encampment so that an adult could haul a 600–700 pound load and cover about 15 miles per day on foot in their continuing trek to [[Salt Lake City]]. A historical marker commemorating the Mormon Handcart Brigade was erected in 1936 by the Iowa Society [[Daughters of the American Revolution|DAR]], with members of the Pilgrim Chapter present.  Originally placed just south of 5th Street and west of 10th Street, it was moved in 1998 to S. T. Morrison Park and rededicated by the Nathaniel Fellows Chapter, placed near the entrance and pond. Today, the Mormon Handcart Park and Nature Preserve commemorates the site.  There is also a street, Mormon Trek Blvd, named for the Mormons who went through that area.

After [[World War II]], Coralville began to grow as many university students began to make their homes there. It had only 433 people in 1940, but by 1970 Coralville's population had jumped to 6,130.<ref>{{cite web|author=City of Coralville, Iowa|title=Coralville History|url=http://www.coralville.org/mod.php?mod=history|access-date=2006-08-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061006014202/http://www.coralville.org/mod.php?mod=history|archive-date=2006-10-06|url-status=dead}}</ref> The construction of [[Interstate 80]] in the 1960s brought several [[motel]]s, [[fast-food restaurant]]s, and [[filling station|gas stations]] to Coralville.

By the mid-1960s, the independent school district of Coralville was annexed by the [[Iowa City Community School District]]. Junior and senior high school students rode buses into Iowa City. Elementary (K-6) students attended Central Elementary School. Kirkwood Elementary school was opened in the fall of 1964, giving the growing town its second school. By the fall of 1968, all high school students from Coralville began attending the newly opened West High School. In 1971, the district built Northwest Junior High on property just to the south of Kirkwood Elementary, which then began handling seventh and eighth graders who lived west of the Iowa River. In 1997, Wickham Elementary School was opened.

[[Image:USACE Coralville Reservoir Iowa.jpg|thumb|Coralville Reservoir]]
In 1958, the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] completed Coralville Dam along the Iowa River, four miles (6&nbsp;km) north of the city, creating [[Coralville Lake]]. Except for the [[Great Flood of 1993]] and the [[Great Iowa flood of 2008]], the dam has helped prevent serious flooding in the city. From June through August 1993, all three of Coralville's main transportation links with Iowa City were submerged. The economic impact that year was severe, but the city had almost fully recovered within two years. The 2008 flood proved to be more costly as the Iowa River surpassed the 1993 record crest at over {{convert|31.5|ft|m}}.

The [[First Methodist Church (Coralville, Iowa)|First Methodist Church]] was built in 1963 to the designs by architect [[Thomas Patrick Reilly]] of [[Crites & McConnell]], 860 17th Street S.E. of [[Cedar Rapids, Iowa|Cedar Rapids]].<ref name=AAD3>{{cite book|url=http://communities.aia.org/sites/hdoaa/wiki/American%20Architects%20Directories/1970%20American%20Architects%20Directory/Bowker_1970_R.pdf|title=Thomas Patrick Reilly|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724230301/http://communities.aia.org/sites/hdoaa/wiki/American%20Architects%20Directories/1970%20American%20Architects%20Directory/Bowker_1970_R.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-24|website=[[American Architects Directory]]|edition=Third|location=[[New York City]]|publisher=[[R.R. Bowker LLC]]|date=1970|page=741}}</ref>

On July 29, 1998, the [[Coral Ridge Mall]] opened with more than 100 stores, then the largest [[Shopping mall|shopping center]] in the state. Around that time a "city center" area was created along the [[U.S. Route 6]] "strip" near its intersection with 12th Avenue. Coral Ridge Mall's opening would usher in a new era of retail development as [[big box store]]s opened in the area surrounding the mall.  This has helped boost taxable sales in Coralville from $155.3 million in 1996 to $549.7 million in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|title=City of Iowa City 2007 Community Profile: Retail and Wholesale Trade|url=http://www.icgov.org/site/CMSv2/file/planning/econDev/2007CommunityProfile.pdf|author=City of Iowa City, Iowa|access-date=2008-08-24|pages=52|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213024607/http://icgov.org/site/CMSv2/file/planning/econDev/2007CommunityProfile.pdf|archive-date=2010-12-13}}</ref>

[[Xtream Arena]], a 5,100-seat venue, opened in 2020 in the city's Iowa River Landing neighborhood. [[Xtream Arena]] is home to the [[Iowa Heartlanders]], an [[ECHL]] professional [[Ice hockey|hockey]] team, affiliates of the [[Minnesota Wild]] and [[Iowa Wild]], and the [[Coralville Chaos]] of [[American Indoor Football]].