spencer

Spencer, Iowa
—  City  —
Location of Spencer, Iowa
Coordinates: 43°8′43″N 95°8′50″W / 43.14528°N 95.14722°W / 43.14528; -95.14722
Country	United States
State	Iowa
County	Clay
Area
- Total	10.2 sq mi (26.3 km2)
- Land	10.1 sq mi (26.2 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	1,312 ft (400 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	11,317
- Density	1,118.1/sq mi (431.7/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	51301, 51343
Area code(s)	712
FIPS code	19-74280
GNIS feature ID	0465608

Spencer is a city in Clay County, Iowa, United States, at the confluence of the Little Sioux and Ocheyedan Rivers. The population was 11,317 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Clay County.^[1] Spencer is famous as the home of the Clay County Fair, held annually in September. The fair averages over 300,000 visitors per year.

Spencer was ranked 10th best place to live in the United States by Relocate-America.com's "America's Top 100 Places to Live for 2007."

Geography

Spencer is located at 43°8′43″N 95°8′50″W / 43.14528°N 95.14722°W / 43.14528; -95.14722 (43.145318, -95.147209)^[2].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.2 square miles (26.3 km²), of which, 10.1 square miles (26.2 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.49%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 11,317 people, 4,842 households, and 3,011 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,118.1 people per square mile (431.8/km²). There were 5,151 housing units at an average density of 508.9/sq mi (196.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.57% White, 0.14% African American, 0.13% Native American, 1.11% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.34% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.43% of the population.

There were 4,842 households out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 88.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,970, and the median income for a family was $43,145. Males had a median income of $30,537 versus $21,709 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,153. About 7.3% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Spencer is a certified cultural district in the State of Iowa. Current cultural attractions include the Spencer Community Theater, Arts on Grand, Parker Historical Museum, public art displays, and the Bogenrief Glass Studio. The Curiel-Reynolds School of Visual Arts is also relocating from Detroit to Spencer as of July 22, 2007. In the next year, Spencer will receive federal recognition of the art and cultural district from the federal government, complete its art deco bridge, and convert the old middle school building into an artist's incubator and studio.

Spencer is the site of the library where Dewey Readmore Books was the cat in residence from January 18, 1988, until November 29, 2006. His story is told in Dewey, The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter. ^[4]

Economy

At one point Great Lakes Airlines was headquartered in Summit Township, Clay County, near Spencer.^[5][6][7]

References

1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
4. ^ Grand Central Publishing (2008)
5. ^ "Welcome to Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd." Great Lakes Airlines. December 5, 1998. Retrieved on May 25, 2009.
6. ^ "Spencer city, Iowa." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 25, 2009.
7. ^ Hilkevitch, John. "AN AIRLINE REGROUPS GREAT LAKES FLYING AGAIN, THOUGH STILL PUZZLED BY ONSET OF CRISIS." Chicago Tribune. May 25, 1997. Business 1. Retrieved on May 25, 2009.

External links

• Official City Website
• Purr 'n' Fur: Dewey Readmore Books, of Spencer Library, Iowa

• Spencer, Iowa is at coordinates 43°08′43″N 95°08′50″W / 43.145318°N 95.147209°W / 43.145318; -95.147209 (Spencer, Iowa)Coordinates: 43°08′43″N 95°08′50″W / 43.145318°N 95.147209°W / 43.145318; -95.147209 (Spencer, Iowa)

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Clay County, Iowa County seat: Spencer Cities Dickens | Everly | Fostoria | Gillett Grove | Greenville | Peterson | Rossie | Royal | Spencer | Webb Townships Clay | Douglas | Freeman | Garfield | Gillett Grove | Herdland | Lake | Lincoln | Logan | Lone Tree | Meadow | Peterson | Riverton | Sioux | Summit | Waterford