Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States

🇺🇸 Cedar Falls is a city in Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. It is home to the University of Northern Iowa, a public university.

Cedar Falls was first settled in March 1845 by brothers-in-law William Sturgis and Erasmus D. Adams. Initially, the city was named Sturgis Falls. The city was called Sturgis Falls until it was merged with Cedar City (another city on the other side of the Cedar River), creating Cedar Falls. The city's founders are honored each year with a week long community-wide celebration named in their honor – the Sturgis Falls Celebration.

Because of the availability of water power, Cedar Falls developed as a milling and industrial centre prior to the Civil War. The establishment of the Civil War Soldiers' Orphans Home in Cedar Falls changed the direction in which the city developed when, following the war, it became the first building on the campus of the Iowa State Normal School (now the University of Northern Iowa).

Arts and culture In 1986, the City of Cedar Falls established the Cedar Falls Art and Culture Board, which oversees the operation of the City's Cultural Division and the James & Meryl Hearst Center for the Arts.

Retail The city's major shopping mall is College Square Mall, built in 1969.

Education It hosts one of three public universities in Iowa, University of Northern Iowa (UNI).

Transportation Cedar Falls has public transportation provided by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Black Hawk County.