Hawkeye Point is the highest natural point in

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 ...

at . It is approximately north of Sibley on the eastern side of SR 60 and approximately south of the

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

state border. The high ground lies due south of an old

silo A silo (from the Greek σιρός – ''siros'', "pit for holding grain") is a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store fermented feed known as silage, not to be confused with a grain bin, which is used t ...

. The land that includes the highpoint was donated by the Sterler family, who worked this land for many decades, to Osceola County with the stipulation that the land be turned into a park. Osceola County, through its Economic Development Commission and Hawkeye Point Committee, has removed a few structures that were deemed to be hazardous to public safety including the old hog feed bunker at the highpoint site and a few small barns. They have erected an informational

kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...

which highlights the family and the county and features a display of license plates from the 50 states sent in over the years to the Sterlers. The county purchased approximately of surrounding land including the old family farm house, which is being used as office space for the county. There are a flagpole, picnic bench, tile mosaic, several granite markers, and five tall posts with signs pointing to the other 49 state highpoints, each with the correct distance noted. The local 4-H group and high school youths contributed a great deal to this effort. The Hawkeye Point Commission also recently purchased a wooded plot of land of about on the north side of the county road abutting the property with the intent to turn it into a campground. The Highpointers Foundation, a non-profit charity set up to benefit privately owned state highpoints, has provided much of the funding for the renovations at Hawkeye Point.Mrs. Sterler, former co-owner of property: Telephone interview, 2008-06-08. File:Granite Marker.jpg, Granite Marker File:Hawkeye Point.jpg, Hawkeye Point is roughly at the site of the silo. File:Hawkeye Point silo.jpg, Silo with observation deck File:Hawkeye Point barn.jpg, Museum barn File:Distance signs at Hawkeye Point.jpg, Signposts listing distances to other state high points File:License plates, Hawkeye Point.jpg, State license plate display

References

External links

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Highpointers Foundation
{{U.S. State Highest Points Geography of Iowa Geography of Osceola County, Iowa Highest points of U.S. states

See also

References

External links