Holland's company was tasked with rehabilitating about 160 acres in Marion County that had been a coal mine — one of more than 300 sites in Iowa that were mined as early as the 1840s.

The program has been championed by Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “When we successfully reclaim these abandoned coal mine sites ... reporter for the Des Moines Register.

Carrying the last of his boxes from the museum ... House in Des Moines from 2010 until he was hired as curator of the historical society. Before Salisbury House, he worked at the Iowa Newspaper ...