Burnside is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Webster County,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, United States. Its elevation is 1,138 feet (347 m). Burnside has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

with the ZIP code 50521.

History

Present-day Burnside was laid out as a town named Buchanan on June 16, 1856. It was later renamed Hesperia. A post office was established in 1875 and the town was an important stagecoach stop between

Boone, Iowa Boone ( ) is a city in Des Moines Township, and county seat of Boone County, Iowa, United States. It is the principal city of the Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Boone County. This micropolitan statistical ...

and

Humboldt, Iowa Humboldt is a city in Humboldt County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,792 at the time of the 2020 census, gaining 340 people over the 2000 total. History Frank A. Gotch Park (just south of present-day Humboldt and Dakota City) was a ...

. The conductor of the first Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway train passing through town in 1882 was a friend of

Ambrose Burnside Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American army officer and politician who became a senior Union general in the Civil War and three times Governor of Rhode Island, as well as being a successful inventor ...

, who had recently died. The town was renamed in his honor. Burnside's population was 63 in 1902.

Education

Despite its small size, Burnside is the location of the area high school, Southeast Webster, originally known as Central Webster. The high school hold about 250 students 7-12 grade. It is a part of the Southeast Webster-Grand Community School District, established on July 1, 2005, by the merger of the Grand Community School District and the Southeast Webster Community School District.REORGANIZATION & DISSOLUTION ACTIONS SINCE 1965-66
." Iowa Department of Education. Retrieved on February 23, 2019. It was previously served by the Southeast Webster Community School District,Home
Southeast Webster Community School District. January 11, 1998. Retrieved on February 24, 2019. which was formed on July 1, 1991, with the merger of the Central Webster Community School District and the Dayton Community School District.

Notable person

Clark R. Mollenhoff Clark R. Mollenhoff (April 16, 1921 – March 2, 1991) was a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist, an attorney who served as Presidential Special Counsel, and a columnist for ''The Des Moines Register''. Life and career Born in Burnside, Io ...

, journalist

References

Unincorporated communities in Webster County, Iowa Unincorporated communities in Iowa {{WebsterCountyIA-geo-stub