Eastbound I-80 Cedar County Rest Area #3

Another of Iowa’s wonderful themed rest stops with new buildings, bright lighting and real, live humans on site to ensure everything is well-​maintained and clean. This one celebrates the history of the Underground Railroad in the area, along with the art of quilting and the secret messages carried by the designs. The lantern-​style lighting enhances the story of escape to freedom. There is a nice green area with picnic tables in back.

The most beautiful rest area I’ve ever seen. We ended up having a picnic in the back area. It is so lovely. Iowa has some of the nicest rest stops I’ve seen.

I admit it, the first time I stopped here and didn’t read any of the interpretive signage, I thought the theme of this rest area was railroads and quilting in Iowa. It was the second time I stopped here that I read the interpretive signage and learned how wrong I was.
This is another of Iowa’s uniquely themed rest areas, this one features the history of the Underground Railroad in Iowa. Iowa had an active role in the abolition movement, especially in Cedar County. With Terra Cotta, ceramic tile murals, steel stampings and floor murals, the story of Iowa’s role in the Underground Railroad is shown here. The Underground Railroad operated between about 1830 and the Civil War, and at least 100 people in Iowa are known to have participated in one way or another.
People who provided safe houses and relief were known as «station masters» and those who showed the way were called «conductors» while escaped slaves were called «passengers.» Iowa was the westernmost pathway for runaway slaves, mostly from Missouri, to reach safety in Canada. The pathways were so well documented, with markings hidden in plain sight, that it seemed like runaways were on a fast moving train.
Many of the messages were coded as symbols, sewn into quilt squares, in plain view on clotheslines. Routes were mapped into the quilts using special stitches and knots. Many of the symbols are documented in the building and the picnic shelters. Terra Cotta panels on the building and around the property contain images of the history. One panel, and in the floor mural inside, mention the Coppoc Brothers. They were Quakers who abhorred slavery, and went against their religion to fight with John Brown in Kansas and in the famous raid on Harper’s Ferry.
On the southwest edge of the property is a steel panel, cutout with a lantern and the word «Tabor.» It represents the town of Tabor, in far southwestern Iowa, a significant station on the Underground Railroad. Tabor is located in Fremont and Mills Counties, and was the first stop for passengers on their way north from Missouri. The history of Tabor is fascinating in itself.
The décor of the rest area is themed around railroading, with tracks in the sidewalk and light fixtures that resemble lanterns. There are ceramic tile murals in the restroom vestibules. Outside the ladies room is a quilt with secret message squares. Outside the mens room is a locomotive that honors the «station master» in Mechanicsville, who was known for «shipping» passengers on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, masquerading as bags of potatoes or other «freight.»
Like other rest areas in Iowa, everywhere you turn, history abounds. Stop in, rest awhile, and explore another interesting chapter in Iowa history.