Cedar Falls is a city in Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States.

[4] Because of the availability of water power, Cedar Falls developed as a milling and industrial center prior to the Civil War.

The establishment of the Civil War Soldiers' Orphans Home in Cedar Falls changed the direction in which the city developed when, following the war, it became the first building on the campus of the Iowa State Normal School (now the University of Northern Iowa).

The Cedar Falls Public Library is housed in the Adele Whitenach Davis building located at 524 Main Street.

The 47,000 square foot (4,400 m2) structure, designed by Struxture Architects, replaced the Carniege-Dayton building in early 2004.

[citation needed] Patrons made 245,000 visits to take advantage of circulation services, adult, teen, and youth programming.

[13] The mission of the Cedar Falls Public Library is to promote literacy and provide open access to resources which facilitate lifelong learning.

[14] The Cedar Falls Historical Society has its offices in the Victorian Home and Carriage House Museum.

It preserves Cedar Falls' history through its five museums, collection, archives, and public programs.

The society also operates the Cedar Falls Ice House, Little Red Schoolhouse, and Behrens-Rapp Station.

[16] The Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center on the University of Northern Iowa campus hosts many professionally touring Broadway plays and musicals throughout the year.

Waterloo Community School District covers a small section of Cedar Falls.

Because of this, Cedar Falls Utilities provides gigabit speeds to residents, this became available on January 14, 2015.

Cedar Falls has the power to do so because, unlike 19 other states, Iowa does not prohibit municipal broadband from competing with the private cable TV monopoly.

In 2020, Cedar Falls Utilities was recognized by PC Magazine as having the nation's fastest internet, by a factor of three.

[22] Cedar Falls has public transportation provided by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Black Hawk County.

The underground music scene in the Cedar Falls area from 1977 to the present day is well documented.