Coon Rapids, Iowa
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Coon Rapids is a city in Carroll and Guthrie counties in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
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 the ...
. The population was 1,300 at the 2020 census, which is a decrease of 5 from the
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. The small portion of Coon Rapids that lies in Guthrie County is part of the
Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
West Des Moines West Des Moines is a city in Polk, Dallas, Warren, and Madison counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. A majority of the city is located in Polk County, a minority of the city is located in Dallas County, and small portions extend into Warren and Ma ...
Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...
.


History

Wheeling and dealing in public land marked the emergence of Carroll county. The county seat, Carrollton, was built on land given by two Fort Des Moines speculators. Two savvy Carrollton residents, Crocket Ribble and Jacob Cretsinger decided to try their hand in real estate. They purchased land along the Middle Raccoon River, built a saw and grist mill and went into business in 1864. Between the impact of the Civil War and later national panics, frontier settlement slowed down. However, the partners were able to establish a post office, named Coon Rapids; become a stop on stage coach service to Sioux City. Returning civil war veterans, William Minnich and his brother in law, Michael Shettler saw potential in the hamlet. After purchasing land, they submitted a plat for the village of Coon Rapids and built what would become a store-hotel and home for the Shettler family. Minnich maintained his farm in adjoining Guthrie County. Between 1870 and 1880, the hamlet grew as former farmers became merchants and tradesmen and newcomers came to the area. In addition to the Mill, the town had several general stores offering an array of goods, a hardware store, implement dealer and the all important real estate agent. When the Chicago, St Paul and Milwaukee started to build a rail line about a half mile south west of the hamlet, they established a rough and tumble camp for their workers, many of whom were accompanied by their families. The railroad project provided jobs and good money for local boys and newcomers. A boom began. Between 1880 and 1886, merchants in the village of coon rapids literally moved their buildings into what the railroad had platted as a town. Main street slowly became lined with business houses and homes and the area between the old and new towns slowly was transformed into a residential area. The editor of the newly established newspaper, Coon Rapids Enterprise, bemoaned the lawlessness and intemperate behavior found in the new town. Selling liquor seemed to be the primary business! However, the town grew, nearly doubling in population and the new commercial center by the railroad expanded with a variety of new and old businesses. 1886 could have marked the end of Coon Rapids. A tornado ripped across western Iowa and Coon Rapids was in its path. The eastern part of town was demolished. Fortunately, only two in town had died, but the property damage within town and along the tornadoes route was immense. Help poured in from around the United States and the town rebuilt. However, this wooden frontier community was vulnerable to fire. Between 1887 and 1894, a multitude of fires occurred some caused by arson, others by lightning, and others the result of cinders from flues igniting dry, shingled roofs. During the late 19th century, Coon Rapids developed a modern, fireproof commercial district made up of brick buildings, exhibiting a variety of Victorian facades. Now this small brick city began to the amenities of urban life such as theater productions, roller skating, bowling, billiards, restaurants and a variety of shops and services, dray lines and livery barns. There were wooden sidewalks and street lights. A night watch and sheriff kept night time lawlessness in control and limited racing down Main street. Now there were community celebrations such as July 4 and Decoration Day for both town and rural folk . A town baseball team was another attraction. The town became a service center for a growing agricultural economy. Community wide events such as Decoration Day, Fourth of July celebration, and school graduations. Church and club celebrations became part of community life and served to integrate community and countryside. In response to the increased town and rural population and agricultural specialization, Coon Rapids saw the appearance of service industries to support the changing farm economy. There were carpenters specializing in farm building construction, well diggers, tiling and drainage concerns, dealers in cement and other types of fencing, a creamery to support the burgeoning dairy and poultry industry. By the early twentieth century, Coon Rapids was the dominant trading center between Perry and Manning. The downtown was filled with two and three storey brick buildings and offered an array of shops, services, and amenities such as an opera house, bowling alley, restaurants, a hotel and other amusements. From a simple market and trading point, Coon Rapids had become the economic, social, recreational and service center for the four county areas. It continued in this role despite the fall in farm values in the late teens and Great Depression of the 1930s. The entrepreneurial tradition that marks Coon Rapids was expressed in the twentieth century by businesses that served the diverse agricultural economy of the area. These included major grain dealers who maintained elevators in town, lumber men, implement dealers, a creamery and related produce stations, extensive poultry operations, a stock yard and sale barn. Of particular importance to the town's 20th century life was the emergence of the hybrid corn business.
Industrial agriculture Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of crops and animals and animal products like eggs or milk. The methods of industrial agriculture include innovation in agricultural machinery and far ...
transformed the Midwest in the post WW II era.
Economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...
shifted centers of production, for example, the poultry business became concentrated in the southeastern United States, the size of farms increased, corporate rather than individual farming operations became the norm. For Coon Rapids this had varied impacts. Garst and Thomas Seed had expanded into an international concern by the mid-1950s offering local employment opportunities . Garst and Thomas expanded physically, literally taking over many of the downtown buildings in Coon Rapids, converting them to laboratory and office space. The city's residential areas grew during the late twentieth century, largely due to the employment offered by Garst and Thomas. Although the range and variety of downtown shops and businesses changed between 1950 and the farm crisis of the 1980s, the town maintained basic services such as a grocery store, hardware store, real estate and insurance agencies, banks, lumber yard, and agricultural service businesses. In September 1959, Coon Rapids played a role in promoting ''
détente Détente (, French: "relaxation") is the relaxation of strained relations, especially political ones, through verbal communication. The term, in diplomacy, originates from around 1912, when France and Germany tried unsuccessfully to reduc ...
'' between the United States and the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, when area resident
Roswell Garst Roswell "Bob" Garst (June 13, 1898 – November 4, 1977) was an American farmer and seed company executive. He developed hybrid corn seed in 1930 that allowed greater crop yields than open pollination, open-pollinated corn. He was perhaps most wel ...
hosted Soviet premier
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
on his farm. Twenty-first-century Coon Rapids lives on the tenacity and commitment of its residents. Syngenta, POET Biorefining, ET video and other local industries remain strong in large part to a dedicated and productive local workforce. Returning natives have energized the town. The
Whiterock Conservancy Whiterock Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) land trust located in west-central Iowa that stewards over 4,000 acres of contiguous land located in the Middle Raccoon River watershed, and an additional 1,000 non-contiguous land located in the Brushy and M ...
, an innovation in eco-tourism, promises greater interest in Coon Rapids through its opportunities for year-round outdoor activities. A small but thriving arts and crafts community sponsors an annual art fair, offers classes, and sells paintings, baskets, clocks, pottery, stained glass, photographs, handmade furniture and wooden pens. In addition, a local musician has initiated a series of house concerts which are held in a variety of venues. City leaders and residents continue to work to improve the quality of life in the community with the expectation Coon Rapids will remain a viable rural Iowa town far into the future.


Geography

Coon Rapids is located along the
Middle Raccoon River The Raccoon River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 26, 2011 tributary of the Des Moines River in central Iowa in the United States. As measured using the longes ...
. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , all land.


Demographics


2010 census

As of the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 1,305 people, 550 households, and 337 families residing in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was . There were 613 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.7%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.1%
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.1% Native American, 1.4% from
other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.8% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race were 3.3% of the population. There were 550 households, of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.7% were non-families. 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age in the city was 41.3 years. 25.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.8% were from 25 to 44; 23.7% were from 45 to 64; and 23.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.0% male and 53.0% female.


2000 census

As of the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, there were 1,305 people, 543 households, and 346 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 571 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 99.16%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.61%
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.15% Native American, and 0.08% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race were 1.76% of the population. There were 543 households, out of which 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.1% were non-families. 33.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.95. Age spread: 23.0% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 25.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $32,951, and the median income for a family was $39,800. Males had a median income of $29,018 versus $22,167 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the city was $16,765. About 6.8% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 13.7% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 67 or over.


Education

It is in the
Coon Rapids–Bayard Community School District Coon Rapids–Bayard Community School District is a rural public school district headquartered in Coon Rapids, Iowa. The district serves Coon Rapids and Bayard. Portions of the district are in Carroll, Guthrie, Greene, and Audubon counties. T ...
. The district was established on July 1, 1988, by the merger of the
Bayard Bayard may refer to: People * Bayard (given name) * Bayard (surname) *Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight Places * Bayard, Delaware, an unincorporated community *Bayard (Jacksonville), Florida, a neighborhood * Bayard ...
and Coon Rapids school districts.


Iowa Great Place

In October 2005, Coon Rapids-Whiterock area was elected a "Great Place" of Iowa for its rich history and resources, and creative future vision. The Great Places program, launched by Governor
Tom Vilsack Thomas James Vilsack (; born December 13, 1950) is an American politician serving as the 32nd United States Secretary of Agriculture in the Biden administration. He previously served in the role from 2009 to 2017 during the Obama administration. ...
and implemented by the Department of Cultural Affairs, aimed to concentrate state agency resources on high-potential communities. The local Great Place committee represents an alliance between the nonprofit
Whiterock Conservancy Whiterock Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) land trust located in west-central Iowa that stewards over 4,000 acres of contiguous land located in the Middle Raccoon River watershed, and an additional 1,000 non-contiguous land located in the Brushy and M ...
, the City of Coon Rapids, and the Coon Rapids Development Group. Whiterock Conservancy is an Iowan nonprofit organized in late 2004 to administer a private conservation land donation from the Garst family of Coon Rapids. Its goals are environmental restoration, sustainable agriculture, and low-impact public use and education. The first three Iowa Great Places (Coon Rapids, Clinton and
Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...
) were each awarded $1 million in seed money by the Iowa legislature. In September 2007, Coon Rapids was also awarded a $1.7 million Vision Iowa grant. The Coon Rapids Great Place Program combines natural resource restoration with trails, public park development, elder care, diversity, historic preservation, microenterprise support, and tourism marketing.


Notable people

* David Garst (1926–2006) President of
Garst Seed Company Garst Seed Company was a U.S.-based subsidiary of Syngenta that produced hybrid seeds for agriculture. In 1931, Garst and Thomas Hi-Bred Corn Company was founded by Roswell Garst and Charley Thomas in Coon Rapids, Iowa, and was "instrumental in ...
Worked for different presidential administrations *
Roswell Garst Roswell "Bob" Garst (June 13, 1898 – November 4, 1977) was an American farmer and seed company executive. He developed hybrid corn seed in 1930 that allowed greater crop yields than open pollination, open-pollinated corn. He was perhaps most wel ...
(1898–1977) Internationally prominent farmer and hosted
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
at his farm * Warren Garst (1850–1924) Nineteenth
governor of Iowa A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
* Jay King "Babe" Towne (1880–1938)
MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
played for the winning
1906 World Series The 1906 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1906 season. The third edition of the World Series, it featured a crosstown matchup between the American League champion Chicago White Sox and the National Leagu ...
team the
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...


See also

*
Roswell and Elizabeth Garst Farmstead Historic District The Roswell and Elizabeth Garst Farmstead Historic District is a farm in Guthrie County, Iowa, United States, near the city of Coon Rapids. It is significant as the home of farmer and hybrid corn populizer Roswell Garst. During the 1930s and ...
*
Whiterock Conservancy Whiterock Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) land trust located in west-central Iowa that stewards over 4,000 acres of contiguous land located in the Middle Raccoon River watershed, and an additional 1,000 non-contiguous land located in the Brushy and M ...
*
Krushchev in Iowa Trail Krushchev in Iowa Trail is a planned rail trail running from Herndon, Iowa, to Coon Rapids, Iowa. It is a planned part of the American Discovery Trail. Originally known as the Corn Diplomacy Trail, the Krushchev in Iowa Trail is to be a paved re ...


References


External links


Coon Rapids, IowaCoon Rapids Tourism Guide
Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Coon Rapids
{{authority control Cities in Carroll County, Iowa Cities in Guthrie County, Iowa Cities in Iowa Des Moines metropolitan area Populated places established in 1864 1864 establishments in Iowa