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Old Settlers' Association Park and Rhodham Bonnifield House

Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, IowaFairfield, IowaHistoric districts in Jefferson County, IowaHistoric districts on the National Register of Historic Places in IowaHouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa
Log buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in IowaNRHP infobox with nocatNational Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, IowaParks on the National Register of Historic Places in IowaProtected areas of Jefferson County, IowaSouth Iowa Registered Historic Place stubsUse mdy dates from August 2023
Rhodham Bonnifield House
Rhodham Bonnifield House

Old Settlers' Association Park and Rhodham Bonnifield House, also known as Old Settlers' Park and Bonnifield Cabin, is a nationally recognized historic district located in Fairfield, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The park was established in 1907 as a preserve for the grasses, flowers and animals native to this area. It was also meant to memorialize the pioneers to Jefferson County and the sentiments of "freedom and equality, hospitality, sympathy and love of fair play" that motivated them. The focal point of the park is the Rhodham Bonnifield House, a log cabin built in 1838 in Round Prairie Township. It was used as a residence until 1902, and moved here when the park was established. This is the first park of its kind established in eastern Iowa. The house's historic designation is attributed to its 1907 reconstruction, and not its original construction. There are few pioneer log structures in Iowa that remain in their original setting. Those that remain have been reconstructed at another site to preserve them.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Old Settlers' Association Park and Rhodham Bonnifield House (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Old Settlers' Association Park and Rhodham Bonnifield House
Waterworks Road,

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N 41.018888888889 ° E -91.956666666667 °
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Waterworks Road
52557
Iowa, United States
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Rhodham Bonnifield House
Rhodham Bonnifield House
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Blum Stadium
Blum Stadium

Blum Stadium was the home of Parsons College (Fairfield, Iowa) Wildcats football from 1966 through their final season in 1970. The dedication game was a 37–7 victory over Los Angeles State on October 8, 1966. The final game was a 10–8 victory over Wayne State (Mich.) on October 24, 1970. Parsons overall record at Blum Stadium was 17–9. In previous years, Parsons had played on campus at Alumni Field. Alumni Field was re-dedicated as Johnson Field in 1947, in honor of the faculty member who led the effort to create the playing field facility in the early 1900s. This small venue was razed in the late 1950s to make room for Fry-Thomas Fieldhouse. This location is directly south of the Blum Stadium site, in the southeast corner of the campus. From the late 1950s up to 1966, Parsons played their home games at Fairfield High School's stadium, which is located in the eastern section of Fairfield, just north of US Route 34. Blum Stadium consisted of concrete seating placed along both sides of the field from back-of-endzone to back-of-endzone. The seating was built into an earthen horseshoe that transitioned from being excavated at the northern end to build up embankment on the southern end. The wooden pressbox was located on the western side of the stadium. The scoreboard stood atop the earthen ridge on the north end of the stadium. Two pre-fab sheet metal dressing rooms were located side by side at the south end of the stadium. According to newspaper accounts of the time, one week before the dedication game, the stadium consisted of the sodded playing field, and the earthen horseshoe. The concrete foundations for the seating had been constructed, but no seats were in place. In the week leading up to the dedication game, the pre-cast concrete seating/walkway sections were trucked in, set into place, and wooden bench seats were bolted onto them. The wooden pressbox was built in the few days before the game. Also, the dressing rooms, scoreboard, goalposts and a chain link fence around the stadium were installed during this week. Carpenters were still working on the pressbox within 40 minutes of the 1:30 pm kickoff, and sod was being placed at the same time. In the 1967 (1966–67 schoolyear) Parsons yearbook (The Peira), the description of the dedication game refers to "Instant Blum Stadium." After acquiring the Parsons campus in 1974, the Maharishi University of Management used the site as a soccer field/stadium up into the early 2000s, when it was demolished as a part of their program of transforming the campus along Maharishi Sthapatya Veda principles of architecture. The concrete seats and much of their embankment were removed to "smooth out" the earthen bowl. The playing field remains.