Pearl Button Capitol

In the 1900’s, the City of Muscatine was built on its trade of pearl buttons, and known as the Pearl Button Capitol of the world. 

Chris Anderson– an artist, discovered many artifacts and the city’s history, said,

“ Roughly about 15 years or so ago I worked with the National Pearl Button Museum and come to learn some history about Muscatine.  I was very fascinated by the idea that underneath the surface of town, are these pearls that are just kind of unseen, but everywhere and so I took it upon myself to start digging. At first I would find these spent shells and I would make art out of them.  As I started to dig in more, I started to find more things.”  A few artifacts found were a belt buckle dating to the early 20th Century, glass bottles, and  a watch.

Chris said, “ I’m looking for anyone who can help me date or find out what these items are, or who this fella was.  So that way we can give it  back to his family, that’s my number one goal.  For me, what this belt buckle has done, is tell the story of Pearl City.  We are still Pearl City, it’s just been buried by dirt a little bit.  I feel like once we start to connect with this story, that people will start to connect with the pearl a little more, and maybe we can start to, rightfully claim that title again.”.