Sperry 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 central

Des Moines County Des Moines County is located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 38,910. The county seat and largest city is Burlington, Iowa, Burlington. It is one of Iowa's two original counties alo ...

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 ...

, United States. It lies along local roads north of the city of

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Des Moines County. Its elevation is 751 feet (229 m). Although Sperry is unincorporated, it 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 serv ...

with the ZIP code of 52650, which opened on 5 February 1870. The community is part of the Burlington, IA– IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Demographics

History

Sperry got its start in the year 1869, when John M. Sperry settled there and opened a post office. Sperry was a station stop on the

Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway (BCR&N) was a railroad that operated in the United States from 1876 to 1903. It was formed to take over the operations of the bankrupt Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota Railway, which was, in ...

later a part of the

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

; construction of the line began in 1869. This line was also used by the

Burlington and Northwestern Railway The Burlington and Northwestern Railway (B&NW) was a narrow gauge railroad system in Iowa that operated during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It connected Burlington, Iowa with branches to Washington and Oskaloosa, Iowa. Inc ...

system, later part of the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

. All service on the line by both the Rock Island and Burlington systems ended in 1980. Sperry's population was 88 in 1902, and 75 in 1925.

References

Unincorporated communities in Des Moines County, Iowa Unincorporated communities in Iowa Burlington, Iowa micropolitan area {{DesMoinesCountyIA-geo-stub