History of Big Hollow Recreation Area

One hundred fifty years ago the first white men started to build houses in the Big Hollow area. Before this the only dwellings were Native American Indian tepees that were erected while they hunted deer and other animals for food, fished in the creek, and foraged for the different native foods such as herbs, berries, and nuts which abounded in the area. The Big Hollow (BH) area was all forested before the land was settled. The area was claimed in sizeable tracts by those who came first, but the claims were more than one man or family could manage and the area was soon sold off into smaller farms.

In the BH area there were as many as eight or nine homesteads, ranging in size from 10 acres to 160 acres. These early settlers managed to make a living and raise large families. There were sawmills and stone quarries that provided some jobs, but most people lived off the patches of land they farmed.

BH was inhabited by diverse wildlife before the land was settled. The heavy forest abounded with squirrels, raccoon and occasional black bear, puma and wildcat. The border areas were inhabited by fox, wolves, rabbits and other small animals. Deer were plentiful in both the woodland and borders on into the prairie. Before the land was settled, bison and elk were native to the area. There is little evidence of Indian activity in the Big Hollow area other than its use for hunting. They may have camped in the area of the spring near the limestone kiln.

Des Moines County Conservation has been actively involved in the development of the Big Hollow Creek Recreation Area since 1965. The first parcel of land was purchased in 1966. The years of planning and preparation have paid off with a remarkable design that takes into account the desires of the community for an outdoor recreation area and balances it with the need to conserve natural resources. This is accomplished within a business model that will allow the facility to be self-sufficient.

In the 1970’s & ‘80’s, CASE used it as a “proving grounds” for their pre-market bulldozers and backhoes. The ponds and silt dams were built courtesy of CASE, who also ‘dozed the trails; today there are over 7 miles of trails in the park. In 1979, areas A, B, D, & E were built; and in 1980, the shelter houses were built. The establishment of prairies soon followed. The BH shop was built in ’81-’82; prior to that staff worked out of a grain storage building in Mediapolis. The Firing Range was built in ’83; today, it’s accompanied by a bow hunter’s course. The last pond was built in 1986. The SE Iowa Observatory Club built and maintains the J.H. Witte Observatory and the Burlington Model Airplane Club maintains the Model Airplane Flying Field.