Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
HIAWATHA PIONEER TRAIL
HIAWATHA PIONEER TRAIL. Boosting TOURISM in the Upper Mississippi River area was the basis for the creation of the Hiawatha Pioneer Trail in July 1964. To inaugurate the idea, Governor Harold Hughes of Iowa and Governor Otto Kerner met in WASHINGTON PARK on July 29, 1964. Actually dedicated in Chicago earlier in the year, the trail used existing highways to link scenic routes in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa.
Continued promotion came through maps and brochures and special highway signs which advertised the participating routes. Governor Hughes announced since the Chicago promotion, the Iowa Development Commission had received more than 4,000 requests from out-of-state people for the brochure. Hughes described the route as part of the then $40 million tourist industry which he described as "virtually an untapped reservoir in Iowa's economic development."
Promotion of the trail gradually faded and it was ast shown on the 1975 state-issued Iowa Transportation Map.
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Source:
1. Hogstrom, Erik, "Iowa, Illinois Governors Met in Dubuque 60 Years Ago to Promote Tourism Trail," Telegraph Herald, August 1, 2024, p. 5A