A Giant Troll, a Tiny Railway and a Crystal Grotto in Iowa (10 Photos)

November 16, 2026

By Vidar

A banker’s railway, a crystal grotto and a troll who wants his tree back

Iowa hides more than cornfields. A railway a banker first built in 1882 to get home at noon still climbs a bluff above the Mississippi, a priest spent 42 years pressing crystals into concrete, and a giant wooden troll has come to Clinton to take back his tree. Ten stops across the state, from a windmill shipped over from Denmark to a 1925 filling station that was moved to save it. Most are new to Street Art Utopia; the troll, the Field of Dreams and two murals you may have seen here before are also along the way.

⛽ Behrens-Rapp Filling Station — Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸

Brothers John and William Behrens built this little brick station in 1925. When a highway project threatened it, the whole building was moved in 1993 to First and Clay streets.

💡 Road Fact: It no longer sells gas. It is the town’s visitor information center, so you can still pull up and ask for directions.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsBehrens-Rapp Filling Station — Cedar FallsBuilt 1925 · Cedar Falls, IowaBuilt 1925Moved 1993Visitor center1Its hip roof, brick pillars, drive-under canopy and ring of light bulbs captured the era’s style.Cedar Falls Historical Society2When Highway 58 threatened it, local groups moved it to First and Clay on 21 July 1993.Cedar Falls Historical Society199321 JulMoved to First and Clay · Cedar Falls Historical Society2012Photographed at its new site · UNI history project201617 AugPhotographed by Carol M. Highsmith · Library of Congress202317 JulPreserved as visitor center · Hansen’s DairyRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress (public domain)

🌳 “Helmut” — By Thomas Dambo in Clinton, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸

Helmut is one of three troll brothers in The Tree Thieves, built in 2026 from local reclaimed wood. In Dambo’s story, Clinton’s sawmills cut down the forest where the trolls slept and floated the logs down the Mississippi. The trolls followed. Helmut is taking his tree back.

💡 Lumber Fact: Clinton was a major lumber town from 1870 to 1940. The project was made with The Sawmill Museum and Bickelhaupt Arboretum, and Helmut’s brothers, Warren and Marwin, wait elsewhere in Clinton.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsHelmutThomas Dambo · 2026 · Clinton, IowaThe Tree ThievesReclaimed woodBuilt 20261Helmut is one of three troll brothers who, in Dambo’s story, came to Clinton to take back their cut-down forest.Thomas Dambo2He stands near the Sawmill Museum, hugging a tub with a living tree.Eastern Iowa Community Colleges202629 AprUnveiling set for 1 May · Iowa Public Radio20264 MayTrolls arrive, Helmut named · Prairie Rivers RC&D202613 MayCollege news on the troll build202612 JunIn the Sawmill Museum green space · column202616 JunOn display · Quad Cities Business20269 NovTroll-hunt visit names Helmut by the museum · KRNARead the full file →

More: Three Giant Trolls Followed Their Stolen Trees to Iowa (8 Photos)

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📷 Photo: Thomas Dambo

🕊️ “Hope Is a Thing with Sequins” — By Naomi Haverland in Sioux City, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸

The window is painted, and so is the boy. Naomi Haverland painted him in 2023 on the side of the Heidman Law Firm Building at 1128 4th Street, lowering a homemade paper bird over the parking lot.

💡 Poem Fact: The title is a nod to Emily Dickinson’s poem “Hope is the thing with feathers”, which compares hope to a bird.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsHope Is a Thing with Sequins — Naomi Haverland, Sioux CityNaomi Haverland · 2023 · Sioux City, IowaPainted 20233D illusionHeidman building1A boy dangles a homemade paper bird out of a window opening on the side of the building.KTIV2The law firm behind the project described the mural as a gift of public art.KTIV202317 MayMural going up on the Heidman building · KTIV2023Mural named in a RAGBRAI 2023 trip report · Chicago Bike AdventuresRead the full file →

More: Naomi Haverland’s Mind-Blowing 3D Murals

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📷 Photo: Naomi Haverland

💎 Grotto of the Redemption — West Bend, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸

One priest started this in 1912 and kept going for 42 years. Father Paul Dobberstein covered the grotto in West Bend with petrified wood, jasper, malachite, quartz crystals and other stones, in nine grottos that tell the life of Jesus.

💡 Size Fact: It is described as the largest man-made grotto in the world.

💡 Stone Fact: The rocks and minerals in it are estimated to be worth more than $4.3 million, and by the time Dobberstein died in 1954, the grotto covered an area the size of a city block.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsGrotto of the Redemption — Paul Dobberstein, West BendPaul Matthias Dobberstein · 1912 · West Bend, IowaBegun 1912Nine grottosNRHP 20011Nine connected grottos tell the story of the Redemption, from the Fall of Man to the Resurrection.Grottos of the Midwest2Concrete holds rock, minerals and Italian glass tile.SPACES Archives200123 FebNational Register record published · NPS2008AugMain entrance photographed · camera date201614 MayGrotto walls photographed · camera date202613 NovIowa PBS film published; filming date not statedMore photos2008 The main entrancePhoto: Ben Franske / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: Alejandro Pulido / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🚡 Fenelon Place Elevator — Dubuque, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸

A banker built this railway so he could get home for his noon dinner and a nap. In 1882 J.K. Graves worked at the bottom of the hill, lived at the top and found the commute cut into his routine, so he put in a private incline. Today two little cars still run the 296 feet up the bluff in Dubuque.

💡 Record Fact: It calls itself the world’s shortest, steepest railroad. Despite the name, it is not an elevator but a funicular.

💡 Climb Fact: In those 296 feet of track, the cars rise 189 feet, and the two cars start at opposite ends and pass each other halfway.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsFenelon Place Elevator — DubuqueJ. K. Graves · 1882 · Dubuque, Iowa512 Fenelon PlaceTwo cars (operator)First run 1882 (operator)1According to the operator, Graves’s first private cable car, built in 1882, was hauled up and down by a hemp rope.Fenelon Place Elevator Co.2According to the operator, after a second fire in 1893 neighbors formed a company and rebuilt it with two counterbalanced cars.Fenelon Place Elevator Co.19783 AugNational Register record · NPS201018 JunBoth cars photographed · camera date2013AugDescribed in operation · University of Iowa202424 AprRoad Trip Iowa clip published · PBSRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Teemu008 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

⚾ Field of Dreams — Dyersville, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸

The white farmhouse is the one from the 1989 movie. The diamond was cut into a cornfield outside Dyersville, and the film’s popularity led the farm owners, Don and Becky Lansing, to keep the field.

💡 Baseball Fact: In 2021 the White Sox beat the Yankees 9–8 in a real Major League game, played in a ballpark built next to the movie field.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsField of Dreams Movie SiteUniversal Pictures film set · 1988 · Dyersville, IowaField of Dreams, 1989Lansing farmNovel: Shoeless Joe1Screenwriter Phil Robinson found the Lansing farm in early 1988, and it became the film’s location.City of Dyersville2Don and Becky Lansing received $3.4 million for the site, as reported in 2013.MLB.com1988Lansing farm chosen as film location201311 JunLansings’ sale of farm reported201523 MayMovie field and farmhouse photographed202112 AugMLB game played next door202613 AugAP: fans enter through movie field202630 OctHoliday events planned at the movie site · KCRGRead the full file →

More: The Movie Ended, the Set Stayed (10 Photos)

📷 Photo: Jana Taylor / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

🌬️ Danish Windmill — Elk Horn, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸

This windmill spent its first 128 years in Denmark. Jens Olesen built it in 1848 near Nørre Snede, Denmark. It was taken apart, shipped across the Atlantic and reached Elk Horn in February 1976, where more than 300 volunteers put it back together.

💡 Mill Fact: It is the only working Danish windmill in the United States, and the sails still turn when the wind is right.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsDanish Windmill — Elk HornBuilt 1848 · rebuilt 1976 · Elk Horn, IowaBuilt 1848Rebuilt 1976About 60 ft tall1The disassembled mill arrived in Elk Horn in February 1976 and about 300 volunteers reassembled it.Notes on Iowa2According to the operator, it is the only working Danish windmill in the United States.The Danish Windmill197617 OctMill almost done · Daily Nonpareil photo201012 JulCompleted mill photographed · camera date20234 FebHistory of its arrival · Notes on IowaRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Smallbones / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

🌉 Roseman Covered Bridge — Winterset, Madison County, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸

Yes, that Madison County. Built in 1883, the 104-foot bridge over the Middle River near Winterset was in The Bridges of Madison County. Clint Eastwood wanted it to look older, so the crew weathered it, and workmen had to repaint it after filming.

💡 Local Legend: Locals call it haunted. According to the story, in 1892, a sheriff’s posse trapped an escaped inmate inside from both ends, and he was never found.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsRoseman Covered Bridge — Winterset, Madison CountyH. P. Jones and G. K. Foster · 1883 · Winterset, IowaBuilt 1883Cost $2,930NRHP 19761It still stands in its original place over the Middle River and carried traffic until 1981.Madison County Tourism2Iowa DOT describes an all-wood Town lattice truss with a queenpost frame over it.Iowa DOT19761 SepNational Register record · NPS200628 NovPhotographed head-on · camera date201722 OctSide view over the river · camera date2023MayPhotographed by Millard Farmer, per CoveredBridges.netMore photos2017 Side view over the Middle RiverPhoto: Teddi Yaeger / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: Ymblanter / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🦅 “Carry Love with You” — By Key Detail in Davenport, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸

Flowers, eagles and koi run the length of a record shop wall. Key Detail painted it in August 2026 on Ragged Records & Trash Can Annie, 311 E. 2nd Street, for Alternating Currents Mural Fest. The artist, an architect by training from Minsk, now lives in New York.

💡 Title Fact: The words are not on the wall. The title comes from the artist’s statement: “Carry love with you everywhere and let it bloom.”

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsCarry Love with You mural by Key Detail, Davenport, IowaKey Detail · 2026 · Davenport, IowaAlternating Currents 2026Ragged Records wallPainted August 20261Key Detail painted it in August 2026 for Alternating Currents, which ran 13–16 August.KWQC2Each selected Mural Fest artist was offered a $5,000 stipend.Quad City Arts RFQ20263 AugFestival set for 13–16 Aug202612 AugQuad City Arts: wall in progress202613 AugKWQC names artist and wall20261 SepFinished; artist’s Behance202628 SepIn WAU Vol. 76Read the full file →

More: Blue-Footed Boobies, a Robin Tribute and a Fish in a Bottle (20 Photos)

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📷 Photo: Key Detail

🌸 “Together We Bloom” — By Yanoe x Zoueh in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸

Hands reach up through blue flowers on a parking garage stairwell. The Los Angeles duo Yanoe (Ryan Sarfati) and Zoueh (Eric Skotnes) painted it next to the DoubleTree hotel downtown, as a picture of a community growing together.

💡 Build Fact: Work began on August 29, 2022, and the crew finished the rest from a construction lift, with the clear coat planned for mid-September before they headed home to Los Angeles. Sarfati told the station the idea behind it is diversity and coming together.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsTogether We Bloom — Yanoe x Zoueh, Cedar RapidsYanoe and Zoueh · 2022 · Cedar Rapids, IowaPainted 2022Five Seasons RampIowa native flower1The artists used photographs of the hands of people they know, with flowers of a species native to Iowa.KMTV 3 News Now2Work began on 29 August 2022, and a construction lift was used for the remaining work.CBS2 Iowa20225 SepMural taking shape · CBS2 Iowa202315 SepCity report: mural in place, lights comingRead the full file →