Farson is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Competine Township in northeastern Wapello County,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, United States. The community is located four miles south of Martinsburg on the Farson Road. Farson is in the rural zip code (52563) of Hedrick and in the Pekin school district.

History

Farson was laid out in 1902. The population was 86 in 1940. A

Class II railroad Railroad classes are the system by which freight railroads are designated in the United States. Railroads are assigned to Class I, II or III according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With a ...

running from

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

marks the southern edge of the community. The railroad has been owned by the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad since July 31, 2002; by

I&M Rail Link The I&M Rail Link was a railroad operating in the north central portion of the United States. The company commenced operations on April 5, 1997, acquiring lines from the Canadian Pacific Railway and Soo Line Railroad. On July 31, 2002, the Iowa ...

from April 5, 1997, to July 30, 2002; by the

Soo Line Railroad The Soo Line Railroad is one of the primary United States railroad subsidiaries for the CPKC Railway , one of six U.S. Class I railroads, controlled through the Soo Line Corporation. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Saul ...

from January 1, 1986 – April 4, 1997; and by MILW until December 31, 1985. In 1960, the Farson High School closed in a consolidation with the Pekin Community School System. In 1970, the middle and elementary schools consolidated with Pekin as well, closing the Farson school.

References

External links

3 photos of Farson, John P. Vander Maas Railroadiana Collection, University of Iowa

Farson, Google maps.
Unincorporated communities in Iowa Unincorporated communities in Wapello County, Iowa {{WapelloCountyIA-geo-stub