E. B. LYONS INTERPRETATIVE CENTER

Illustration by Norman Zepeski

E. B. LYONS INTERPRETATIVE CENTER. Wildlife preserve and part of the original MINES OF SPAIN. Thirty-seven acres in size, the Center stands on grounds purchased in 1859 by Julius Haas and Karl Frederick "Otto" JUNKERMANN from a man named John Bush. Junkermann then constructed from stone a barn, house, and chapel resembling a church he attended as a boy in Germany. The grounds were used as pasture for cows and sheep. Grape arbors were planted along with apple trees. Two caretakers were hired to manage the property. Otto's death in 1883 ended family dreams of an estate, and the land was sold by his wife Julia in 1885.

Between 1885 and 1943 the land was bought and sold twelve times. In 1943 Otto's granddaughter Marjorie Reed and her husband Charles purchased the land. The stone house was destroyed by fire on Christmas Eve 1943 and rebuilt the next year.

The Lyons Trust Fund, established in the will of Edwin B. LYONS, purchased the farm in 1972. Development of the Center included the construction of a magnificent nature center in 1976 and the establishment of interpretive trails. A public support group, the Friends of Lyons Prairie-Woodland, was formed to assist the naturalist and staff that were hired.

The City of Dubuque turned the E. B. Lyons Nature Preserve over to the Iowa Conservation Commission in 1983. The Commission, now the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, turned the management of the preserve and Mines of Spain over to its Parks Section. E. B. Lyons Nature Center houses the Mines of Spain offices, displays and provides a convenient meeting place. The Preserve, home to many native plants and animals, is also the site of an old LEAD mine.

In 2010 visitors were invited to the Center to view the $1.8 million expansion which doubled the size adding an auditorium for programs and events, a biology lab, a library for references and educational materials, and new exhibits interpreting the science and history of the region.