Fundraising for the Learning Walk is almost to the finish line!

Our goal is to raise $195,000 dollars!

Historic Pella Trust has committed to raise 100% of the funds needed for the City of Pella project so that no tax dollars will be involved. The Tuttle Learning Walk joins two of Pella’s historic landmarks, the 1843 Tuttle Cabin with Sunken Garden Park providing enjoyment and education both to Pella citizens and visitors alike.

Progess

$183,250 94%

New: Donate Online!

Tuttle Learning Walk is an educational path between Sunken Garden Park and the Historic Tuttle Cabin using an existing city owned dirt alleyway.

Benefits:

The walk is an entertaining way for our children, adults and visitors to learn about Pella’s history and heritage
Connects two important historic Pella sites
High-interest tourist attraction
A lasting tribute to the devoutness, courage and industriousness of our Dutch ancestors.

Description of Learning Walk

The walk creates an entertaining way for our children, adults and visitors to learn about Pella’s history and heritage through signage and plantings. It provides a lasting tribute to the devoutness; courage and industriousness of our Dutch ancestors. We anticipate that it will become a high-interest tourist attraction!

Visitors will learn about the 1843 homestead of Thomas and Nancy Tuttle and the role Rev. Moses J. Post had in helping the Dutch to acquire local the homesteads in 1847. They will gain insight on what motivated the Dutch to leave the Netherlands under the leadership of H. P. Scholte and why that still has an impact on our present-day culture. As the walkway nears Sunken Garden Park, the signage will share about the cooling pond for Pella’s first electric plant and the location for the first tulip festival. The signs will include QR codes to scan for more history and photos. The City of Pella parks department will maintain the walk that will feature a variety of heritage perennials wildflowers, native grasses and bushes along with several limestone outcroppings representing the literal foundations of our town. Limestone outcroppings and retaining walls will represent the literal foundations of our town.

Signage will elaborate on the following topics:

Arrival of the first Europeans and the Pella area as they found it.
What motivated the Dutch to leave the Netherlands –
Pella area when the Dutch arrived – The Tuttle’s and their farm.
Early history of Pella
History of Sunken Garden Park (Tulip Town)
Pella and the Civil War
Impact of the early Dutch and their heritage on Pella’s present-day culture

Plants for the Learning Walk

Shrubs & Trees

Cotoneaster ‘Bronfire’ PP30,493 (Autumn Inferno® Cotoneaster); Juniperus horizontalis ‘Blue Prince’ (Blue Prince Juniper); Rhus typhina ‘Laciniata’ (Cutleaf Staghorn Sumac); Cercis canadensis (MN Strain Redbud); Weigela florida ‘Red Prince’ (Red Prince Weigela); Rhododendron ‘Candy Lights’ (Candy Lights Azalea); Rhododendron ‘Lemon Lights’ (Lemon Lights Azalea); Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’ (Dwarf Korean Lilac); Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Golden Mops’ (Golden Mops Threadleaf Falsecypress); Callicarpa x ‘NCCX2’ PP28312(Pearl Glam® Beautyberry); Paeonia Hybrid (Peony ‘Itoh Scrumdiddlyumptious’); Paeonia Hybrid (Peony ‘Itoh All That Jazz’); Paeonia Hybrid (Peony ‘Itoh Hillary’) (Stock plant photos courtesy of Google Images)

Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’ (Dwarf Korean Lilac)

Weigela florida ‘Red Prince’ (Red Prince Weigela)

Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

Meadow Blazing Star (Liatris ligulistylis)

New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)

Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra)

Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)

Prairie Blazing Star (Liatris pycnostachya)

Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepsis)

Rhododendron ‘Candy Lights’ (Candy Lights Azalea)

Mertensia virginica (Virginia Bluebells)

Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchman’s Breeches)

Paeonia Hybrid (Peony ‘Itoh All That Jazz’)

Paeonia Hybrid (Peony ‘Itoh Scrumdiddlyumptious’)

Callicarpa x 'NCCX2' PP28312(Pearl Glam® Beautyberry)

Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Golden Mops’ (Golden Mops Threadleaf Falsecypress)

Rhus typhina ‘Laciniata’ (Cutleaf Staghorn Sumac)

Cotoneaster ‘Bronfire’ PP30,493 (Autumn Inferno® Cotoneaster)

Perennials Woodlands

Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchman’s Breeches); Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the Pulpit); Podophyllum peltatum (Mayapple); Mertensia virginica (Virginia Bluebells)

Perennials Prairie

Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii); Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium); Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepsis); Blue Phlox (Phlox divartica); Bradbury Monarda (Monarda bradburiana); Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa); Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis); Meadow Blazing Star (Liatris ligulistylis); Prairie Blazing Star (Liatris pycnostachya); New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae); Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida); Prairie Phlox (Phlox Pilosa); Purple Prairie Clover ((Dalea purpurea); Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra);Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis)

Klingner Associates, P.C. designed the

Tuttle Learning Walk project.

Klingner and Associates have a branch office on the Molengracht in Pella, at 604 Liberty Street, Suite 129. The City of Pella and Historic Pella Trust was in good hands with Klingner Architectural Group. Kim Mulch, the branch manager visited with Bob Zylstra and Jennifer VanKooten at the Tuttle Cabin. Next, several of the HPT board members along with Jeanette V. and Chandler N. from the City were present for the first planning session at the Klingner office on Febuary 11, 2019. Many planning sessions and site meetings followed. Jeremy Steenhoek works as an engineer with this firm. His ancestor, Jan Steenhoek bought Tuttle Cabin from Henry Scholte as the 3rd owner of the 1843 cabin. .