Editing Ely, Iowa (section)

== Community ==
=== Annual events ===
Ely hosts the Fall Fest, held annually during Late September or Early October. The Ely Fall Fest is a family-oriented and affordable celebration that offers a wide range of events for all ages run by The Ely Parks & Recreation Commission.
The town also hosts a city-wide garage sale day on the first Saturday of May.

=== Religion ===
There are two churches in Ely: St. John's Lutheran Church founded in 1854 and the First Presbyterian Church founded in 1858.

=== Parks and Recreation ===
The City of Ely provides four different parks throughout the community:
* Ely City Park: the newest and largest of the four city parks. It features two baseball fields, soccer fields, a small pond, and playground.
* Schulte Park: locals often refer to this as the "Fishy" Park due to its large fish shaped bridge that is a part of the playground. This park features a large playground, pavilion, large grassy area, and gaga ball pit.
* Community Center Park: the oldest park in Ely, this park offers half-court basketball, a tennis court, open grass field and a playground. The playground was renovated in the fall of 2020.
* Vavra Park: this park offers a quiet and shaded green space, nestled along a creek. Renovations were made in 2023 with new features including a covered shelter, frisbee golf holes, horse shoe pits, permanent bag toss, a butterfly garden and minimal playground equipment.

Ely is located near two Iowa State parks: Lake MacBride State Park and Palisades-Kepler State Park. The Cedar Valley Nature bike trail travels through Ely and provides access to both Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.

=== National Register of Historic Places ===
Three properties in Ely are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]:
* [[Dows Street Historic District]]
* [[Ely School House]]
* [[Historic Ely Elevator|Woitishek-King-Krob Elevator]]