Once Upon a Heights

Every community has a moment when it shifts from “what it was” to “what it will become.” For Windsor Heights, the late 1960s marked that turning point. This look back to 1968 captures a city in motion, as open fields disappeared and the foundation of today’s Windsor Heights took shape.

Before Windsor Heights became a city of neighborhoods and streets, it was a place defined by what lay beneath the ground. In the early 1900s, coal miners worked deep underground here, carving tunnels and sinking shafts that fueled homes and industry across central Iowa. Though the mines have long since closed and vanished from view, they shaped the land that Windsor Heights would one day be built upon. 

Long before Windsor Heights officially became a city in 1941, our community was already making headlines. This 1921 newspaper article offers a charming look back at the early days of the “Windsor community,” where neighbors built a vibrant, close-knit world long before cityhood became official.