Erin@Eric

 
    
 
     THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WILL ONLY BE OF INTEREST TO YOU IF YOU CAME FROM IOWA, KNEW SOMEONE FROM IOWA, LIVED IN IOWA FOR A SPELL, MARRIED SOMEONE FROM IOWA (IF SO, IT MAY BE BEST TO KEEP THESE FACTS TO YOURSELF UNTIL SUCH TIME AS YOUR SPOUSE BRINGS UP SOME OTHER OBSCURE FACT), HAD OTHER RELATIVES (NO MATTER HOW DISTANT) FROM IOWA, WENT TO SCHOOL IN IOWA, DROVE THROUGH IOWA; OR, SHOULD YOU BE ONE OF THOSE VERY RARE PEOPLE WHO HAS A DEEP SENSE OF PURSUIT OF IOWA FACTS - A RARE PERSON, INDEED.
 
   IOWA TRIVIA---KNOWLEDGE WE CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT!
 
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 Ripley's Believe It or Not has dubbed Burlington's Snake Alley the most crooked street in the world.
 
                                       
 
                                           
 Strawberry Point is the home of the world's largest strawberry.
 
                           
 
 The state's smallest city park is situated in the middle of the road in Hiteman.
 
 Scranton is home to Iowa's oldest water tower still in service.
 
                                                  
 
                                                 1897   40,000 gallons

Dubuque is the state's oldest city.
 
 Crystal Lake is home to a statue of the world's largest bullhead fish.
 
                                          
 
 Rathbun Dam and Reservoir is the largest body of water in the state.
 
                                
 
                                                        1000 acres

Spirit Lake is the largest glacier-made lake in the state.
 
 West Okoboji is the deepest natural lake in the state. Its depth is 136'.
 
 Imes Bridge is the oldest of Madison County's six bridges.
 
                              
 
Iowa's longest and highest bridge crosses Lake Red Rock.
 
 Elk Horn is the largest Danish settlement in the United States
 
 At 16 miles, East Okoboji is the longest natural lake in the state.
 
 Kalona is the largest Amish community west of the Mississippi River.
 
                       
 
 The state's lowest elevation point (at 480 feet) is in Lee County.
 
The Holliwell Bridge is the longest bridge in Madison County.
 
 Francis Drake was 66 years old at his inauguration and Iowa's oldest governor.
 
Iowa's oldest continually running theater is in Story City.
 
 The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art houses the largest collection of Grant Wood artwork.
 
     
 
        SPRING IN TOWN             AMERICAN GOTHIC        SPRING IN THE COUNTRY
 
                 1941                                   1930                                   1941

 Fenelon Place Elevator in Dubuque is the world's steepest and shortest railway.
 
                                              
 
 Wright County has the highest percentage of grade-A topsoil in the nation.
 
 Quaker Oats, in Cedar Rapids, is the largest cereal company in the world.
 
 The Saint Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville is the only basilica in the United States situated outside a major metropolitan area.
 
 Clarion is the only county seat in the exact center of the county.
 
 Dubuque is home to the only county courthouse with a gold dome.
 
 Cornell College is the only school in the nation to have its entire campus listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
 
 The Sergeant Floyd Monument in Sioux City honors the only man to die during the Lewis and Clark expedition.
 
                    
 
 Maynard Reece, born in Arnolds Park, is the only artist to win the Federal Duck Stamp competition five times.
 
 A bronze life-sized sculpture of a Norwegian immigrant family (circa 1860) is located on a six acre restored prairie site located at the East entry to Lake Mills on Highway 105.
 
Iowa's only operating antique carousel is located in the city of Story City.
 
 Knoxville's National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum is the only museum in the country dedicated to preserving the history of sprint car racing.
 
Iowa's only fire tower is situated in Yellow River State Forest.
 
                                   
 
                                 100 foot at harper's ferry

 Sabula is Iowa's only town on an island.
 
           
 
 Herbert Hoover, a West Branch native, was the 31st president of the United States and the first one born west of the Mississippi
 
 Mamie Doud Eisenhower's birthplace is located in Boone and includes a restored frame house, complete with summer kitchen and original furniture from the family.
 
                                      
 
 Van Meter is the hometown of baseball's Bob Feller, an Iowa farm boy who went on to greatness with the Cleveland Indians during the Golden Age of baseball.
 
                                            
 
 Born Donnabelle Mullenger in Denison, Oscar Award-winning actress, Donna Reed, started her career at the young age of 16.
 
                                                    
 
   
Born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, John Wayne was the son of a pharmacist and grew up to become one of Hollywood's most popular movie stars. The famous actor was born on May 26, 1907.
 
                                              
 
 Meredith Wilson, who played with the famous John Philip Sousa and the New York Philharmonic before launching his career as a famous composer and lyricist, is a Mason City native, in addition he wrote THE MUSIC MAN.
 
               
                            Meredith Wilson Museum   Mason City
Jay Berwanger, the first winner of the Heisman Trophy, was born in Dubuque in 1914..
 
                          
 
                      1935  Univ. of Chicago (a Big Ten team at that time.)

 Glenn Miller, noted trombonist and orchestra leader, was born in Clarinda located in Southwest Iowa.
 
                                       
 
 The town of Fort Atkinson was the site of the only fort ever built by the U.S government to protect one Indian tribe from another..
 
 Campers and motor homes are manufactured in Winnebago County They're called Winnebago's.
 
Iowa is the only state whose east and west borders are 100% formed by water. Missouri (& Big Sioux) and Mississippi rivers.
 
 The highest double track railroad bridge in the world, the Kate Shelley Bridge, is located at Boone.
 
                                
 
                                                    circa 1902 photo
 
Iowa is the only state name that starts with two vowels.
 
 Iowa State University is the oldest land grant college in the U.S.A.
 
                                            

 Decorah hosts Nordic Fest a three-day celebration of Decorah's Scandinavian heritage.
 
 The National Balloon Museum in Indianola chronicles more than 200 years of ballooning history.
 
 Sheldon High School Summer Theatre, the only high school repertory in Iowa and one of just a few in the nation presents a different play for each week in June and July.
 
 Clarion, the county seat of Wright County, is the only town that can claim John Phillips as their local hero.
 
 Wright county is the county with the most artesian wells.
 
 Eagle Grove has an artesian well that has run non stop for over 100 years and is still flowing.. Folks from all over go there and fill jug with its pure water.
 
                                           Iowa means:
 
                                      "Beautiful Land."
 
                  Now, see how much smarter you are?
 
             Didn't you wonder how you ever got along without this info?
 
            Go out and DAZZLE your friends with this new found knowledge.
 
                                            
 
                                         Whew