Keokuk

 

Today's Weather M/CLOUDY Temp: 79°F / 26°C Full forecast below

(born 1790?, along Rock River [near present-day Rock Island, Ill., U.S.] — died 1848?, [in present-day Franklin county, Kan.]) Sauk Indian orator and politician. He engaged in a lifelong struggle for power with rival leader Black Hawk, who advocated resistance to white settlement on tribal lands. Keokuk instead urged accommodation and concession. Many Indians, witnessing the showering of gifts and honours on Keokuk by U.S. Indian agents and military leaders, turned to him for leadership. In 1832 Black Hawk led a short-lived resistance effort against white encroachments; Keokuk counseled peace and surrender, and he even provided advance warning to the U.S. of Black Hawk's intentions. For this assistance, the U.S. government named Keokuk leader of the Sauk nation in 1837. Keokuk responded by ceding the Illinois lands of his tribe and moving his people to Iowa. He continued to give away tribal land until his people were forced to settle on a reservation in Kansas, where he died in disgrace, despite the wealth and power he had accumulated.

city (1990 pop. 12,451), seat of Lee co., extreme SE Iowa, on the Mississippi River at the foot of the Des Moines River rapids and in a farm area; inc. 1847. Its industries focus on food processing and packaging (turkeys, dairy items, grain products), and metal products are manufactured. The city was named for Keokuk, a Sac tribal chief who ceded lands to settlers and who is buried beneath an impressive statue in Rand Park. Because of its location at the foot of the treacherous Des Moines River rapids, Keokuk was a transshipment stop for boats ascending the Mississippi. During the Civil War five army hospitals there served the wounded; those who did not survive were buried in the city's national cemetery, where the Unknown Soldier Monument was erected. In 1877 a ship canal (9 mi/14.5 km long) was completed around the rapids; in 1910–13 the river was dammed, creating Lake Keokuk. Mark Twain worked as a printer in Keokuk; mementos of his stay are preserved.

Keokuk, Iowa
Location of Keokuk, Iowa
Coordinates: 40°24′9″N 91°23′40″W / 40.4025, -91.39444
Country	United States
State	Iowa
County	Lee
Area
- City	km²  ( sq mi)
- Land	km² ( sq mi)
- Water	km² ( sq mi)
Elevation	m ( ft)
Population (2000)
- City
- Density	/km² (/sq mi)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	52632
Area code(s)	319
FIPS code	19-40845
GNIS feature ID	0458054

Keokuk is a city in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Iowa and one of the county seats of Lee County. The population was 11,427 at the 2000 census. The city is named after Sauk Chief Keokuk, who is buried in Rand Park. It is located in the extreme southeast corner of Iowa where the Des Moines River meets with the Mississippi. It is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 61, 136 and 218. Just across the rivers are the small towns of Hamilton and Warsaw, Illinois, and Alexandria, Missouri.

Geography

Keokuk is located at 40°24′9″N, 91°23′40″W (40.402525, -91.394372)¹. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.4 km² (10.6 mi²). 23.7 km² (9.2 mi²) of it is land and 3.7 km² (1.4 mi²) of it (13.42%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there are 11,427 people, 4,773 households, and 3,021 families residing in the city. The population density is 481.7/km² (1,247.5/mi²). There are 5,327 housing units at an average density of 224.5/km² (581.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 92.87% White, 3.90% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.45% from other races, and 1.99% from two or more races. 1.09% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 4,773 households out of which 29.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.8% are married couples living together, 13.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% are non-families. 32.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 16.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.35 and the average family size is 2.97.

Population spread: 25.4% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 88.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 83.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $31,586, and the median income for a family is $39,574. Males have a median income of $31,213 versus $21,420 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,144. 11.9% of the population and 8.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 15.7% of those under the age of 18 and 13.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Culture

Attractions

The Mississippi River lock and dam along with the hydroelectric power plant were built in 1913 and still utilize most of the original equipment. At the time it was the largest single powerhouse electric generating plant in the world. It is part of the Keokuk Lock & Dam, both of which are visible from a park at the foot of the commercial district. The old lock, built in 1913 became too small for newer, larger barges and was replaced in 1957 with a 1200' x 110' lock.

The Grand Theatre was designed by Merle F. Baker and was constructed on the foundation of the Keokuk Opera House (Circa 1880) which burned in 1923. It was patterned after theaters in Chicago and was praised as one of the finest theaters in the country at the time. Presently, The Grand Theatre is owned by the city of Keokuk and is used as a performing arts center. The theatre has housed many historically important performers over the years, including both John Philip Sousa and Maynard Ferguson.

The tap water produced for the city at the Keokuk Waterworks Plant has been awarded the "Best Tasting Water In Iowa" by the Iowa Water Council.

Keokuk is also home to the Keokuk National Cemetery, the Keokuk Veteran's Memorial, the Miller House Museum, the annual American Civil War reenactment, and the George M. Verity River Museum.

Education

The Keokuk Community School District has four elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school.

Keokuk is also home to a campus of South-Eastern Community College.

A few miles north of Keokuk is the Galland School, a replica of the first schoolhouse constructed in Iowa.

Music

Each summer Keokuk is home to "Rollin' on the River," a local blues festival that attracts hundreds to Victory Park.

A community concert band exists in the form of the Irish themed McNamara's Band. The band has been around for many decades and regularly performs throughout the area.

Once a month the jazz big band, "Craig Bullis and Friends," performs at the local Hawkeye restaurant. The band is made up of area jazz musicians, as well as both collegiate level students and Professors of Music. The band has featured such guest artists as Reggie Watkins, former lead trombone and music arranger for Maynard Ferguson and Big Bop Nouveau.

Every Saturday evening starting at 7:00 PM some of the best tri-state area all original bands perform at "Music at the Mall" at the River City Mall located at 300 Main Street.

Theatre

Keokuk is home to the Great River Players, a thespian troupe that strives "to provide quality amateur theatrical productions for the tri-state area by encourging members of the surrounding communities to express their creative abilities in all aspects of live theatre." The troupe performs a season of three shows, usually two plays and one musical.

Notable natives and residents

• Samuel Curtis - American Civil War officer
• Howard Hughes - polymath
• Dick Hutcherson - NASCAR driver
• Elsa Maxwell - columnist
• Perle Mesta - socialite and United States Ambassador
• Samuel Freeman Miller - United States Supreme Court justice
• Conrad Nagel - actor
• Ramo Stott - NASCAR driver
• Jeremy Soule - orchestral composer
• Mark Twain - author

Pop culture references

The town's name has been mentioned in a variety of ways on television, including: an episode of The Simpsons where Krusty the Klown mentioned Keokuk, along with Walla Walla, Cucamonga, and Seattle as funny named places; an episode of Nickelodeon's All Grown Up in which a class project involved family trees with ancestors originating in Keokuk; an episode of M*A*S*H in a story line involving Radar O'Reilly; an episode of the New Zoo Revue in which Freddy the Frog was blurting out random answers for a trivia contest; and as part of a joke on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show. Keokuk has also been mentioned on the game show "Jeopardy" under the category of starting and ending in K. It was described as "A small town in southeast Iowa".^{[citation needed]}

Keokuk was also mentioned in a W. C. Fields film, as well as in the lyrics to Iowa Stubborn from Meredith Willson's 1957 musical, The Music Man. In the operetta Mlle. Modiste it is referred to a number of times as the hometown of Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Bent, the latter of which sings a song extolling the virtues of The Keokuk Culture Club.

See also

• Lock and Dam No. 19
• Keokuk National Cemetery
• Keokuk Rail Bridge
• Keokuk-Hamilton Bridge

Further reading

For a depiction of Keokuk during its early boom years see: Michael A. Ross, “Cases of Shattered Dreams: Justice Samuel Freeman Miller and the Rise and Fall of a Mississippi River Town,” Annals of Iowa, 57 (Summer 1998): 201-239.

External links

• The History of Keokuk Web site
• George M. Verity Riverboat Museum
• HAER - Mississippi River 9-Foot Channel, Lock & Dam No. 19, Upper Mississippi River, Keokuk, Lee County, IA
• Keokuk, Iowa at the Open Directory Project

Coordinates: 40.402525° N 91.394372° W

Municipalities and communities of Lee County, Iowa
County seat: Fort Madison & Keokuk
Cities	Donnellson | Fort Madison | Franklin | Houghton | Keokuk | Montrose | St. Paul | West Point

Donate to Wikimedia