Iowa Facts and Trivia

Fun Facts about Iowa State’s Geography

  • Iowa map outline
  • 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.
  • City Guide: Visit Iowa City Guide for a look at geography, local history, architecture, and culture.
  • Iowa’s longest and highest bridge crosses Lake Red Rock.
  • Elk Horn in 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.
  • Iowa is the only state whose east and west borders are 100% formed by water. Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
  • Strawberry Point is the home of the world’s largest strawberry.
  • 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.
  • 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 feet.
  • Pikes Peak as part of Rocky Mountain Range (among others) exist in the state of Iowa

Iowa State Symbols Trivia

  • Iowa State Bird is called the Eastern Goldfinch-Carduelis tristis
  • Bur Oak is the official state tree of Iowa
  • The official state flower of Iowa is Wild Prairie
  • Dubuque is the state’s oldest city.
  • The official state motto of Iowa is ‘Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain
  • On Dec. 28, 1846 Iowa became the 29th state to enter the union.
  • The state flag of Iowa was adopted in 1921 but was originally designed in 1917 by Mrs. Dixie Cornell Gebhard.
  • The official song of the state of Iowa is called ‘The Song of Iowa’
  • Iowa’s first General Assembly held in 1847 approved the Iowa code that elaborately describes the state seal of Iowa and there has been no change in it since then
  • The “Hawkeye State” was first suggested as the nickname of Iowa by James G. Edwards as a tribute to Native American warrior Chief Black Hawk

Historical Facts about the State of Iowa

  • Ripley’s Believe It or Not has dubbed Burlington’s Snake Alley the most crooked street in the world.
  • Francis Drake was 66 years old at his inauguration and Iowa’s oldest governor.
  • Find out the interesting facts about the famous people born in Iowa.
  • IA is the Two-letter or Postal Abbreviation and Iowa is the Traditional or Standard Abbreviation for the State of Iowa.
  • Iowa’s oldest continually running theater is in Story City.
  • The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art houses the largest collection of Grant Wood artwork.
  • Fenlon Place Elevator in Dubuque is the world’s steepest and shortest railway.
  • Iowa quarter was issues on August 30, 2004.
  • 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 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.
  • 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.
  • Meredith Willson, 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.
  • 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.
  • The highest double track railroad bridge in the world, the Kate Shelley Bridge, is located at Boone.
  • Iowa is the only state name that starts with two vowels.
  • The famous actor John Wayne was born in Winterset on May 26, 1907.
  • 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.

Thanks to: Bob Carter, Denny Watkins