67 Interesting Facts about Iowa

Facts about Iowa

1. Iowa was first inhabited by Iowa people during the time of European exploration in the United States. However, they used to live in the eastern region of the area.
2. The Iowa State Fair attracts over a million visitors a year.  It is known as “one of the oldest and largest agricultural and industrial expositions in the country.” The Iowa State Fair takes place for 11 days every August at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.
3. The city of Le Mars Iowa is considered the Ice Cream Capital of the World. The ice cream company, Wells Enterprise Inc. is a reason behind it. The company is famous for its Blue Bunny products.
4. Over 25% of electricity in the state is generated by Wind Power. Iowa has the highest concentration of wind turbines (around 3200 wind turbines) in the country and the state hopes to increase wind power by up to 40% by 2020.
5. With a population of 3.2 million people, Iowa is the 3rd most populous state, sitting between Utah and Nevada in terms of population.
6. The final Native American Indian claim to land in the state was removed by the Sioux Cession in 1851.
7. A 25-mile trail bridge winds across five Iowa towns. It crosses from Woodward to Ankeny across the Des Moines River valley. The bridge is half a mile long, and it’s a hundred and thirty feet high. It is considered to be among the largest trail bridges in the world.
8. Iowa is a society of hog lovers. On average, each person has four hogs in the state.
9. Agriculture plays an important role in Iowa’s economy. Iowa is famous for the production of corn. It is the top corn producer state in the USA. Apart from corn, Iowa also produces oats and soybeans. Around 92% of the area of Iowa is covered with farmlands.
10. Iowa has the World’s largest wooden nickel which takes 12 feet to set up.
11. The world’s largest strawberry is situated in the city of Strawberry Point, Iowa. This strawberry is a 15-foot-tall fiberglass statue.
12. In 1927, Iowa inventor and engineer, Otto Frederick Rohwedder invented the automatic bread-slicing machine. After patenting it and selling it to one baker, every bakery in town soon wanted Rohwedder’s machine.
13. Iowa is home to the National Hobo Convention, which takes place every year in Britt it celebrates the American traveler.
14. Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa or RAGBRAI is a non-competitive cycle ride across Iowa. The event is organized by ‘The Des Moines Register.’ It was first organized in 1973 and is now the largest bike-touring event in the world.
15. Iowa is home to one of the largest trail bridges.
16. The world’s largest truck stop is in Iowa. It is known as Iowa 80. The truck stop is not just a place for truckers to park their bread and butter earning machines, but it also has a barbershop, chiropractor, and a huge museum with antique trucks.
17.  Iowa’s capital city is Des Moines, the largest city in the state. With a population of 214,000 (metro 559,000), it is the 106th largest city in the US.
18. The first woman elected to the House of Iowa legislature was Carolyn Pendray in 1928. In 1932, she went on to be elected to the Senate.
19. Professor John Atanasoff and student Clifford Berry (both USA) created the world’s first electronic digital computer – the Atanasoff–Berry Computer (ABC) – at Iowa State University, USA, between 1937 and 1942.

20. The people of Iowa love Golf. This is why, Iowa has more golf courses per capita than any other state.
21. Herbert Hoover was the 31st President of the United States who hailed from West Branch, Iowa. His birthplace in West Branch is now a national historic site.
22. Iowa native George Nissen invented the trampoline in the 1930s. His prototype was built in his parent’s garage.
23. Iowa is also famous for its parks and recreational areas. Backbone State Park is the oldest state park in the state and Brushy Creek State Recreation Area is the largest fun center in the state with every kind of outdoor recreational activity.
24. Sabula town in Jackson County, Iowa, is located on an island in the Mississippi River. It’s the only island town here. With an area of 1.26 sq mi, approximately six hundred people call it home. 
25. Iowa is named after the Iowa River, which is named after the Iowa tribe. It means “one who puts to sleep.”  
26. In a 2012 tour of the US, now China President Xi Jinping visited Muscatine, Iowa, to bring back memories of an earlier visit he’d made there almost 30 years earlier to look at farming technology.
27. Ada Hayden was the first woman to earn a Doctor of Philosophy degree at Iowa State. She was a botanist and the herbarium at Iowa State was later named after her.
28. Elwood is the world’s tallest concrete Gnome. He stands in a garden 15 feet tall from his boots to his telltales pointy hat and weighs at least 3500 pounds.
29. Iowa is a place with lots of museums and aquariums. some of the famous museums and aquariums are; the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, the African American Museum of Iowa, the American Gothic House, etc..
30. Iowa is surrounded by rivers. It is bordered by the Mississippi River to the east, the Missouri and Big Sioux River to the west, and the Des Moines River to the south. 
31. Iowa State has the most diverse workforce of the three public universities in Iowa, due to the percentage of faculty and staff of color increasing significantly in the past decade.
32. National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, and the African American Museum are some of the prehistoric sites in Iowa. They contain all the history and present facts of Iowa.
33. In the 1930s, the first electronic digital computer was designed, built, and operated at Iowa State University.
34. Besides corn, Iowa is the top pork producer in the US and is one of the top producers of beef, soybeans, and grains.
35. Sac City, Iowa, is home to the world’s largest popcorn ball. The ball has a circumference of just over 24 feet. 
36. Rathbun Dam and Reservoir is the largest water body in the state. It has a surface area of 44.52 square km.
37. The Wild Rose was designated as the state flower in 1897. A type of prairie rose with bright pink petals, they can be spotted in the meadows and wildlands around Iowa.
38. Spirit Lake in Dickinson County is the largest glacier-made lake in the State. It is very popular for winter sports, like skiing, skating, etc. However, in summer, people are crazy about boating and fishing.
39. It’s the Home of the World’s Largest Bullhead Fish Statue. The statue is 12 feet long. It sits on a crystal lake that has several hundred real bullhead fish at the bottom.
40. Scranton Water Tower is the oldest operating water tower in Iowa state. It was constructed in 1897.

41. In the state of Iowa, it is illegal for a mustached man to kiss a woman in public. 
42. The first moving train robbery in the world happened on July 21, 1873, in Adair, Iowa. The burglars netted some $3,000
43. Iowa is one of the windiest states. It is home to around 6000 wind turbines, producing the 2nd most wind energy in the US after Texas.
44. On December 18, 1846, Iowa was admitted to the US as the 29th state, with Iowa City as its capital.
45. Iowa’s streets are considered the most crooked streets in the world. Due to its topography, Iowa is a place of rolling hills, and most of the region is not flat. So, the streets, and roads are twisting and turning.
46. In 1933, the American Goldfinch was declared the state bird of Iowa. The Goldfinch is a small migratory bird that prefers meadow habitats. It can often be seen in Iowa’s many meadows in the winter and spring.
47. 83% of the citizens are either protestants or Catholics. Other religions are also there but not as many.
48. The town of Fort Atkinson is the only city in Iowa that was fortified by the U.S. government in 1842 to protect the Ho-Chunk tribe during their removal from Wisconsin.
49. Residents were forced to flee their homes in Delhi, Iowa in 2010 when massive rainfall caused the Lake Delhi Dam to fail.
50. People who live in the state of Iowa are called Iowans or Hawkeyes.
51. A huge frying pan was built for the Brandon’s Cowboy Breakfast Festival in 2004 to fry 44 dozen eggs. This is equivalent to 88 pounds of bacon. It measures nine feet in width and 14 feet in length with the handle included.
52. The National Balloon Museum was founded in 1975. It provides the public with the historical chronicles of ballooning through its exhibitions and collections.
53. State slogans have included “A Place to Grow”, “Discover Iowan Treasures”, “Iowa, You Make Me Smile”, “Iowa Welcome You”, “Iowa…Field of Opportunities”,
54. The house in Grant Wood’s 1930 painting, American Gothic is here. Wood sketched the house when he passed through Iowa in the last century.
55. Scranton is the oldest water tower in Iowa and one of the top ten oldest water towers in the United States. It was constructed in 1897, and it’s still functional to date!
56. French explorers arrived in Iowa for the first time in 1673. In 1682, they claimed the region for France.
57. The Dibble House in Eldon, Iowa, was the real-life backdrop for the famous American Gothic painting. Iowan artist Grant Wood painted the iconic piece in 1930. Grant was known for his paintings of rural Midwest landscapes.
58. The professor, John Vincent Atanasoff, and the student, Clifford Berry, developed the first electronic digital computer, which weighed around 750 pounds.
59. On November 19, 1997, 29-year-old Bobby McCaughey gave birth to septuplets, the first time in the U.S. that so many infants in a multiples birth were born alive. They are the world’s first set of surviving septuplets.
60. Only 0.21% of Iowa state’s land is protected, one of the ten lowest percentages of any state.
61. Iowa State University is the oldest land grant college in the USA. It was founded in 1858 and is the largest University in the State.
62. The Gold Dome of the State Capitol building is the seat of the Iowa General Assembly. It houses the  Iowa Senate, Iowa House of Representatives, and the offices of the Governor, Auditor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Treasurer.

63. It was in 1892 that John Froelich invented the first gasoline-powered engine that could be driven backward and forward (tractor).
64. Iowa is the only state in the USA whose name starts with two vowels.
65. Fenlon Place Elevator in Dubuque is considered the world’s steepest and shortest scenic railway. It is 296 feet in length.
66. Iowa has a 99% literacy rate, making it the best in the country. In addition, ACT and SAT average scores in Iowa are typically high.
67. The first Iowan to be elected to the office of the Vice President of the US was Henry Agard Wallace in 1940.