Burlington is a city in, and 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 ...

of,

Des Moines County Des Moines County is located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,910. The county seat and largest city is Burlington. It is one of Iowa's two original counties along with Dubuque County; both were organiz ...

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, 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: Wiscon ...

, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in

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 S ...

. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area, which includes West Burlington and

Middletown, Iowa Middletown is a city in Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 363 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Burlington, IA– IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Middletown was laid out in 1846. In 1940, t ...

, and Gulfport, Illinois. Burlington is the home of Snake Alley, the most crooked street.

History

Prior to European settlement, the area was neutral territory for the Sac and Fox Native American tribes, who called it Shoquoquon (''Shok-ko-kon''), meaning Flint Hills. In 1803, President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

organized two parties of explorers to map the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or ap ...

. The

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

followed the Missouri River, while Lt. Zebulon Pike followed the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

. In 1805, Pike landed at the bluffs below Burlington and raised the United States Flag for the first time on what would become Iowa soil and recommended construction of a fort. The recommendation went unheeded. Burlington IA Barber 1865p525 cropped

The

American Fur Company The American Fur Company (AFC) was founded in 1808, by John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant to the United States. During the 18th century, furs had become a major commodity in Europe, and North America became a major supplier. Several British ...

of John Jacob Astor established a post in the area in 1829. Settlement began in 1833, shortly after the Black Hawk Purchase, when Samuel (aka Simpson) White, Amzi Doolitle, and Morton M. McCarver crossed the

from Big Island and staked claims there. According to an account A.T. Andreas wrote in 1875, White erected a cabin in the area later platted to be Front Street between Court and High streets. Andreas called White and Doolittle the

Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus (, ) are twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his fratricide of Remus. The image of a she-wolf sucklin ...

of their settlement, referring to the mythic heroes who founded Rome, a city surrounded by hills. A few weeks later, William R. Ross joined them and established a general store. In November and December, he surveyed the settlement for White and Doolittle. In the spring of 1834 they allowed John Gray, who purchased the first lot with his wife Eliza Jane, to rename the town for $50. Gray chose to name it Burlington in honor of his hometown in Vermont. The Grays' daughter Abigail was born in Burlington that same year, the first European-descended American settler child born on Iowa soil. In 1837, Burlington was designated the second territorial capital of the

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

. The

Iowa Territory The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Iowa. The remain ...

was organized in the following year, and Burlington was named as its first territorial capital. The government used "Old Zion," the first Methodist Church in Iowa (located near what is now Third and Washington streets), to conduct its business. A

historical marker A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

commemorates the site of the church and early territorial government. On May 22, 1849, Maj. William Williams visited Burlington, writing a brief description in his journal: Lady Liberty of Burlington

In April 1885, economist

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...

gave a speech titled "The Crime of Poverty" at the Burlington

Knights of Labor Knights of Labor (K of L), officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also ...

local advocating for a

citizen's dividend Citizen's dividend is a proposed policy based upon the Georgist principle that the natural world is the common property of all people. It is proposed that all citizens receive regular payments ( dividends) from revenue raised by leasing or taxin ...

paid for by a

land value tax A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land (economics), land without regard to buildings, personal property and other land improvement, improvements. It is also known as a location value tax, a point valuation tax, a site valuation ta ...

. Iowa's nickname, "

The Hawkeye State 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 ...

," has its roots in Burlington. At Judge David Rorer's suggestion, publisher James G. Edwards changed ''The Iowa Patriot'' newspaper's name to ''The Hawk-Eye and Iowa Patriot'' in tribute to his friend, Chief

Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus urub ...

. Rorer is said to have found the name in

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought ...

's ''

The Last of the Mohicans ''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is a historical romance written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826. It is the second book of the '' Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinde ...

,'' but Edwards proposed the nickname to "...rescue from oblivion a momento , at least of the name of the old chief." Burlington was a bustling river port in the

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

era and a central city to 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 ...

. The "Burlington Route" (1848–1970) merged into the

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadi ...

(1970–1996), which in turn merged into the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

(1997–present). The "Burlington" name has been given to one of the United States' largest railroads. One of BNSF's main east-west lines, the Ottumwa subdivision, still crosses the Mississippi at Burlington. In the late twentieth century, retail expanded with suburbanization of the population. After purchasing Benner Tea,

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...

opened its first store in the United States at Burlington in 1976. Westland Mall opened in nearby West Burlington in 1977.

Geography

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 th ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Climate

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 25,663 people, 10,938 households, and 6,693 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 11,899 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 81.2%

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 ...

, 14.2%

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 ...

, 0.3% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.7% 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 2.9% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 3.1% of the population. There were 10,938 households, of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.9% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.8% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% 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 2.89. The median age in the city was 39.7 years. 23.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.6% were from 25 to 44; 26.5% were from 45 to 64; and 17.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.1% male and 51.9% female.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 26,839 people, 11,102 households, and 7,105 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 11,985 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 86.6%

, 10.0%

, 0.33% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.04%

, 0.90% from

, and 1.43% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 2.06% of the population. There were 11,102 households, out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.2% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.0% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 4.94. Age spread: 24.5% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $33,770, and the median income for a family was $40,912. Males had a median income of $33,238 versus $23,003 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,450. About 10.0% of families and 12.6% of the population was below the poverty line, including 20.9% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Burlington's roots are in transportation and manufacturing. Manufacturing plants are among the largest employers in the area, including companies such as American Ordnance LLC,

Case Corporation The Case Corporation was a manufacturer of agricultural machinery and construction equipment. Founded, in 1842, by Jerome Increase Case as the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, it operated under that name for most of a century. For anot ...

, ABB (formerly

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...

), Champion Spark Plugs, Shearer's Foods and Winegard Company. The largest employer in the area is the Great River Medical Center. Among the oldest businesses in Burlington, the Murray factory (now Murray Turbomachinery and owned by Dresser-Rand) which has been in operation in Burlington since before 1900, the original building on Central St. and Washington St. which was divided by the local train tracks, was recently razed. Another long-lived business is

, which has been at its current location on Des Moines Avenue, approximately a quarter-mile from the Mississippi River, since 1937. The first backhoes rolled off the assembly line at the Burlington plant in 1957, which is now the only plant in the United States that produces the Case Loader/Backhoe, giving Burlington the nickname "''Backhoe Capital of the World''." Case is now a division of the Italian holding group

CNH Industrial CNH Industrial N.V. is an Italian-American multinational corporation with global headquarters in Basildon, United Kingdom, but controlled and mostly owned by the multinational investment company Exor, which in turn is controlled by the Agnel ...

. Employment at Case peaked in the 1980s, according to the

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the juncti ...

, then declined after "Case initiated a wave of buyouts and early retirements in the 1990s and early 2000s, and ended the contract with the union in 2004"; but in May 2010, the ''Register'' reports, Case announced that "it will open a new line that builds corn-picker heads for combines, as early as pring, 2012 and that by mid-2013 it will add more than 200 positions. Over the last several years, several businesses have either left the area or relocated elsewhere. These businesses include

Exide Exide was originally a brand name for batteries produced by The Electric Storage Battery Company and later became Exide Corporation doing business as Exide Technologies, an American multinational lead-acid batteries manufacturing company. It ...

, makers of vehicle batteries,

CAT The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

, Case Corporation's closest competitor in American made construction equipment, and Lehigh-Leopold, makers of office furniture. This has left some former manufacturing plants around the city empty, but other businesses have moved into them; PPG, maker of auto safety glass has moved into the former CAT plant, and a warehouse has moved into the former Leopold building. In March 2012, the ''Des Moines Register'' reported that "Unemployment here is 7.6 percent, compared with the 5.4 percent state average".

Downtown Burlington

The downtown area holds a number of buildings listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, among them the Burlington Apartments (listed as the Hotel Burlington), the Burlington Railroad Depot, the Des Moines County Courthouse, the Burlington Fire Department central station, the Port of Burlington building, Memorial Auditorium, River Park Place (as Burlington Mercy Hospital), the former Burlington Police Department building. It is perhaps best known for Snake Alley, the most crooked street in the US. (as Burlington Paper Company), The Capitol Theater, First Congregational Church, St. Paul's Catholic Church and several others. The downtown skyline is noted for its several church spires.

Sports

Burlington is the home of the

Burlington Bees The Burlington Bees are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Burlington, Iowa, and have played their home games at Community Field since 1947. Founded in 1889, the Bees played in Minor League Baseball' ...

baseball team, a member of the

Prospect League The Prospect League is a collegiate summer baseball league comprising teams of college players from North America and beyond. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. So as to maintain their colleg ...

, a

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

league. They were previously members of Minor League Baseball's Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganiza ...

until

Major League Baseball 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 (A ...

's reorganization of the minor leagues after the 2020 season. The Bees play at

Community Field Community Field is a stadium in Burlington, Iowa. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Burlington Bees collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. Occasionally, the stadium is used by the local high school ba ...

, which underwent extensive renovation in 2005. Burlington hosts the Snake Alley

Criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time ...

, one of the most physically challenging races in the Midwest. The annual event is held on a 15-block course, with differences in elevation from 555 feet to 678 feet. The course is entirely on city streets, mostly in the downtown commercial area. A one-block-long climb is on the historic brick street named Snake Alley. The 276-foot-long Snake Alley has five switchbacks in a 60-foot climb. The average grade is 12.5 percent in that one block. Twice, Burlington has been the finishing point for RAGBRAI, the annual bicycle ride that starts at the Missouri River in western Iowa and ends in eastern Iowa at the

. Burlington is also the home of the Burlington High School and Notre Dame High School sports teams. Also in the Burlington area are the sports teams of Southeastern Community College, which have had a successful history, including three men's basketball national championships.

Education

Burlington is served by the Burlington Community School District, which has five elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school, one

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

and one

alternative high school Alternative High School (AHS) is a public senior high (secondary) school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; which teaches grades 10 through 12. AHS is currently located at the Clinton Ford Centre, which was home to the former Clinton Ford Elementary Sc ...

. Private education is also available for kindergarten through 12th grade at

Notre Dame Catholic School Notre Dame RC School is a Roman Catholic school for girls in Derriford, Plymouth, England. Its sister school is St Boniface's Catholic College. The former headteacher, Fiona Hutchings, was headteacher from 2001 until July 2012. Kate White, the ...

and

Great River Christian School Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

(GRCS). In 1833 the first school facility for Burlington opened in a log cabin. School District No. 2 of the Township of Burlington was established on March 29, 1849. The Burlington School District has five elementary schools: North Hill, Sunnyside, Grimes, Corse and Black Hawk. All are new buildings or have been recently completely rehabilitated, the newest, North Hill Elementary, received its first students in 2009, there are no elementary school buildings within the school district that are over 40 years old. The district has two middle schools: Edward Stone and Aldo Leopold. Beginning with the 2010–11 school year, students who had attended Oak Street Middle School (an aging building that was completed around 1907) began attending Aldo Leopold (named in honor of ecologist, and environmentalist,

Aldo Leopold Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American writer, philosopher, naturalist, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his ...

, a former resident of Burlington, and author of "''

A Sand County Almanac ''A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There'' is a 1949 non-fiction book by American ecologist, forester, and environmentalist Aldo Leopold. Describing the land around the author's home in Sauk County, Wisconsin, the collection of essay ...

''"), the new school building is located near the corner of Sunnyside Avenue, and Roosevelt Avenue. Edward Stone, which opened at the start of the 2012–13 school year, is located near the corner of Lawrence Drive and Mason Road. The middle school was named in honor of former JPL head, and Burlington educated Dr. Edward Stone. This building replaced the James Madison Middle School building, which has only been in the system since the mid-1960s. These two new middle schools were built to accommodate more students after a third building, Horace Mann, was gutted by fire in 2005. Burlington Community High School was constructed in 1968, and occupied the following year, with the first graduating class in June 1970. Prior to that, the high school students were educated at the former Apollo High School building located near the downtown business district; the building is still standing and for a time served as Burlington Alternative High School, but has been unoccupied since 1996. Notre Dame High School and Elementary schools occupy a building near the Burlington high school. Great River Christian Schools occupies the old Prospect Hill Elementary School building, 426 Harrison St. A third middle school building once existed on the edge of Perkins Park, named Horace Mann, that building was gutted by fire in 2005, and later razed. The school district offices are located near the corner of West Avenue, and White Street, in a large mansion once owned by Railroad tycoon

Charles Elliott Perkins Charles Elliott Perkins (November 24, 1840 – November 8, 1907) was an American businessman and president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad."Charles E. Perkins, Dead." ''New York Times.'' November 9, 1907. He was so well respected th ...

, and is nicknamed "''The White House''," due to the whitewashed facade. The original High School building (which now serves as the School District Maintenance shops) is noted as being the first high school built west of the Mississippi River. Burlington is also served by Southeastern Community College. Burlington Public Library serves the community.

Media

Burlington, Iowa is served by the following local media outlets: ; Newspaper *The Burlington Beacon is a community-focused local newspaper covering Des Moines County and southeast Iowa. *'' The Hawk Eye'' is a morning newspaper published six days a week. The paper was established in 1837 and is Iowa's oldest newspaper. *Des Moines County News is a once a week newspaper. ; Radio Burlington's radio stations include WQKQ 92.1 FM,

KAYP AYP may refer to: Places * Albany Park railway station, UK, station code * Coronel FAP Alfredo Mendívil Duarte Airport, Ayacucho, Peru, IATA code Language * North Mesopotamian Arabic (ISO 639-3 ayp), a variety of Arabic Music * Americ ...

89.9 FM, KKMI 93.5 FM,

KCDM KCDM-LP (98.3 FM) is a radio station licensed to Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 United States Census, 20 ...

98.3 FM, KDMG 103.1 FM, KBKB 101.7 FM, KHDK 97.3 FM,

KGRS KGRS (107.3 FM) is a commercial radio station that serves the Burlington, Iowa area. The station broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format. KGRS is licensed to Titan Broadcasting, LLC, which is owned by John C. "LJ" Pritchard. Titan Broadcas ...

107.3 FM,

KCPS KCPS (1150 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Talk/Personality format. Licensed to serve the Burlington, Iowa, United States. area, the station is currently owned by John M. Giannettino and features programming from Motor Racing Network and ...

1150 AM, KBKB 1360 AM, and KBUR 1490 AM. Burlington residents also listen to stations in nearby communities, most notably, the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...

. ; TV Burlington previously had a local TV station, KJMH. It signed on August 2, 1984, from a tower on Winegard Drive. It also had studios in Burlington. Initially an independent station, it became a charter FOX affiliate in 1986, but suffered from duplication from KLJB in the Quad Cities. In 1996, the station became a full-time satellite of KLJB, marking the end of local broadcast TV in Burlington. Today, those in the Burlington-Oquawka area receive local over-the-air programming from stations in the Quad Cities (the city's main television market), Quincy, and Ottumwa, including the stations listed below. *

WHBF-TV WHBF-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Rock Island, Illinois, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Quad Cities area. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Burlington, Iowa–licensed CW owned-and-opera ...

CBS Channel 4.1 (RF 4); Rock Island, IL (Quad Cities) *

KWQC-TV KWQC-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Davenport, Iowa, United States, serving the Quad Cities area as an affiliate of NBC. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on Brady Street in downtown Davenport, and its ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Channel 6.1 (RF 36); Davenport, IA (Quad Cities) *

KHQA-TV KHQA-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Hannibal, Missouri, United States, serving the Quincy, Illinois–Hannibal, Missouri–Keokuk, Iowa market as an affiliate of CBS and ABC. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Gr ...

CBS Channel 7.1 (RF 7); Hannibal, MO (Quincy, IL) *

ABC Channel 7.2 (RF 7); Hannibal, MO (Quincy, IL) * WQAD-TV ABC Channel 8.1 (RF 38); Moline, IL (Quad Cities) * WQAD-DT3

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

Channel 8.3 (RF 38); Moline, IL (Quad Cities) *

WGEM-TV WGEM-TV (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Quincy, Illinois, United States, serving the Quincy, Illinois–Hannibal, Missouri–Keokuk, Iowa market as an affiliate of NBC, The CW Plus, and Fox. Owned by Gray Television, it is a s ...

Channel 10.1 (RF 10); Quincy, IL * WGEM-DT2

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Channel 10.2 (RF 10); Quincy, IL * WGEM-DT3 Fox Channel 10.3 (RF 10); Quincy, IL * KIIN PBS Channel 12.1 (RF 12); Iowa City, IA * KYOU-TV Fox Channel 15.1 (RF 15); Ottumwa, IA * WTJR CTN Channel 16.1 (RF 32); Quincy, IL * KLJB Fox Channel 18.1 (RF 49); Davenport, IA (Quad Cities) *

KWKB KWKB (channel 20) is a religious television station licensed to Iowa City, Iowa, United States, serving the Eastern Iowa and Quad Cities television markets as an owned-and-operated station of Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). The station's ...

This TV This TV (also known as This TV Network and alternately stylized as thisTV) is an American free-to-air television network owned by Allen Media Broadcast Networks, LLC, part of the Allen Media Group division of Entertainment Studios. Originally f ...

Channel 20.1 (RF 25); Iowa City, IA * WMEC PBS Channel 22.1 (RF 21); Macomb, IL * WQPT-TV PBS Channel 24.1 (RF 23); Moline, IL (Quad Cities) *

KGCW KGCW (channel 26) is a television station licensed to Burlington, Iowa, United States, serving the Quad Cities area with programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Rock Island, Illin ...

Channel 26.1 (RF 41); Burlington, IA (Quad Cities, studio in Rock Island) * KQIN PBS Channel 36.1 (RF 34); Davenport, IA (Quad Cities)

Transportation

Roadways

The town is served by U.S. Route 34, which is the freeway that bisects the city, and U.S. Route 61. Iowa Highways 99 and 406 served the town before they were decommissioned in 2003. The two still exist as county roads.

Transit

Burlington Urban Service (B.U.S.) is a transportation system owned and operated by the City of Burlington. Routes service nearly all areas of Burlington, and nearly 90% of all residents live within three city blocks of a bus route. Burlington Trailways provides daily intercity bus service from its West Burlington hub.

Rail service

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Burlington, operating its ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall ...

'' daily in both directions between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, Illinois, and Emeryville, California, across the bay from San Francisco. The older

Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Passenger Station The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Passenger Station is a historic building located in Burlington, Iowa, United States. The station was built by the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad in 1856. It is the oldest train depot in the upper ...

exists nearby and is also listed on the NRHP.

Airport

The

Southeast Iowa Regional Airport Southeast Iowa Regional Airport is a public airport located two miles southwest of Burlington, in Des Moines County, Iowa. It is owned by the Southeast Iowa Regional Airport Authority which includes representatives from the city of Burlington, ...

(

IATA code IATA codes are abbreviations that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) publishes to facilitate air travel. They are typically 1, 2, 3, or 4 character combinations (referred to as unigrams, digrams, trigrams, or tetragrams, respect ...

BRL), is located about five miles south of downtown.

Quad City International Airport Quad Cities International Airport is a public airport in Rock Island County, Illinois, three miles (5 km) south of Moline, partly in Blackhawk Township and partly in Coal Valley Township. In 2012 it was named "Illinois Primary Airport of ...

, the area's large international airport, is approximately 70 miles north of the city, in

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Islan ...

Notable people

* Tony Baker, played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

, earned a

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selection in 1969 * George J. Bauer (1871–1942), Illinois state representative * Robert Bierstedt (1913–1998), influential sociologist at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

and former president of the

Eastern Sociological Society Eastern Sociological Society is a non-profit organization with a mission of "promoting excellence in sociological scholarship and instruction". It publishes a peer-reviewed journal (Sociological Forum) and holds a yearly academic conference An ac ...

Tom Billups Tom Billups (born December 26, 1964) is an American former rugby union rugby player (hooker position), who played for the USA Eagles as an international and Blackheath Rugby Club, Harlequin F.C., and Pontypridd RFC as a professional. After retiri ...

, American

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

player * Harriet Connor Brown (1872-1962), writer and women's rights activist * Dr. Wallace Carothers, inventor of nylon * James Clarke, Governor of

, founder of the Iowa Patriot newspaper now called '' The Hawk Eye'' * John Murray Corse,

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

General * Thomas Courtney, Iowa Senator * Augustus C. Dodge,

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

from Iowa *

Henry Dodge Moses Henry Dodge (October 12, 1782 – June 19, 1867) was a Democratic member to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, Territorial Governor of Wisconsin and a veteran of the Black Hawk War. His son, Augustus C. Dodge, served as ...

(1782–1867) United States Senator from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and Governor of

Wayne Duke Wayne Duke (November 9, 1928 – March 29, 2017) was an American collegiate sports executive who served as commissioner of the Big Eight Conference from 1963 to 1971, then as commissioner of the Big Ten Conference from 1971 to 1989. Biography Ear ...

, Commissioner of the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associati ...

s * Marion Howard Dunham (1842–1921), teacher, activist, suffragist * Grace Durand (1867–1948), businesswoman and dairy owner in Illinois *

William Frawley William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy ser ...

(1887–1966), actor, best known as Fred Mertz on the '' I Love Lucy'' show * James L. Green, scientist, Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA's Science Mission Directorate * James Wilson Grimes U.S. Senator noted for being the swing vote in the Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson * Jack Hamilton,

player from 1962 to 1969 *

Serranus Clinton Hastings Serranus Clinton Hastings (November 22, 1814 – February 18, 1893) was an American politician, rancher and lawyer in California. He studied law as a young man and moved to the Iowa District in 1837 to open a law office. Iowa became a territory ...

, U.S. Congressman and founder of the

Hastings College of the Law The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a public law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the first law school of the University of California a ...

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, University of Califor ...

* Frank Hatton,

United States Postmaster General The United States Postmaster General (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...

and newspaperman *

Bart Howard Bart Howard (born Howard Joseph Gustafson, June 1, 1915 – February 21, 2004) was an American composer and songwriter, most notably of the jazz standard " Fly Me to the Moon", which has been performed by Kaye Ballard, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, ...

, composer and writer of the jazz standard " Fly Me to the Moon" *

Jimmie E. Howard Jimmie Earl Howard (July 27, 1929 – November 12, 1993) was a Marine Corps staff sergeant when he led an eighteen-man reconnaissance patrol in a fierce battle against a battalion of Viet Cong in June 1966. As a result of his heroic actions, Howard ...

(1929–1993), received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

, the USS Howard is named in his honor *

John Hurlburt John Blair Hurlburt (July 23, 1898 – March 3, 1968) was an American football halfback who played two seasons with the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Hurlburt played college football at the University of Chicago an ...

(1898–1968), NFL player * James M. Kelly,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

Astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

, piloted the Space Shuttle's 2005 Return to Flight * Jack Kent, Illustrator of famous

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

, King Aroo *

, naturalist and writer *

A. Starker Leopold Aldo Starker Leopold (October 22, 1913 – August 23, 1983) was an American author, forester, zoologist and conservationist. He also served as professor at the University of California, Berkeley for thirty years. Throughout his life, Leopold ...

, author,

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

, and conservationist * Everett Lindsay, NFL player * Steve Macko (1954–1981), baseball player with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

during the 1979 and 1980

seasons *

Arabella Mansfield Arabella Mansfield (May 23, 1846 – August 1, 1911), born Belle Aurelia Babb, became the first female lawyer in the United States in 1869, admitted to the Iowa bar; she made her career as a college educator and administrator. Despite an Io ...

, first female lawyer in the United States. *

Robert J. Marshall Robert James Marshall (c. 1918 – December 22, 2008) was an American clergyman and religious leader who was president of the Lutheran Church in America in the 1970s, at the time the largest Lutheran church in the United States. During his lead ...

, President of the

Lutheran Church in America The Lutheran Church in America (LCA) was an American and Canadian Lutheran church body that existed from 1962 to 1987. It was headquartered in New York City and its publishing house was Fortress Press. The LCA's immigrant heritage came mostly fr ...

, 1968–1978 * Richard Paul Matsch,

United States federal judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S ...

John H. Mickey John Hopwood Mickey (September 30, 1845 – June 2, 1910) was an American banker and Republican politician who served as the 13th Governor of Nebraska from 1903 to 1907. Life and career Early life and ancestors He was born near Burlington, ...

, 17th governor of

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

from 1903 to 1907 * May Naudain (1881–1923), musical theatre and vaudeville singer *

Robert Noyce Robert Norton Noyce (December 12, 1927 – June 3, 1990), nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley", was an American physicist and entrepreneur who co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel Corporation in 1968. He is also credited wit ...

, co-founder of

Fairchild Semiconductor Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. was an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957 as a division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument, it became a pioneer in the manufacturing of transistors and of int ...

and

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 ser ...

, credited with the invention of the

integrated circuit An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

or microchip *

Kay A. Orr Kay Avonne Orr (née Stark; January 2, 1939) is an American politician who served as the 36th governor of Nebraska from 1987 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, she was the state's first and to date only female governor. Early life and e ...

, Governor of

and the first Republican woman governor *

Matt Perisho Matthew Alan Perisho (born June 8, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball. He bats and throws left-handed. Career In 2008, Perisho played for the Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo of the Triple-A Mexican Leag ...

player *

(1840–1907), railroad tycoon

Perkins Park in Burlington was part of his estate *

George C. Remey George Collier Remey (August 10, 1841 – February 10, 1928) was a rear admiral of the United States Navy, serving in the Civil War and the Spanish–American War. Early life George Collier Remey was born at Burlington, Iowa on August 10, 1841 ...

(1841–1928), rear admiral of the U.S. Navy * Mason Remey (1874–1974), religious leader of the American Baháʼí community * William Butler Remey (1842–1895), Judge Advocate General of the Navy, 1880–1892 *

George Scott III George Scott III (October 16, 1953 - August 5, 1980) was a bass player for several New York City bands during the No Wave era. He was a founding member of 8-Eyed Spy and the Raybeats, and he worked with James Chance and the Contortions, James W ...

(1953-1980), punk bassist * Dr. Edward Stone, former director of the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge, California ...

Elswyth Thane Helen Ricker Beebe (May 16, 1900 – July 31, 1984) was an American romance novelist who published under the name Elswyth Thane. Early life and writing career Born in Burlington, Iowa, she was the daughter of a local teacher and high schoo ...

, romance novelist * Charles Wachsmuth,

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

Kurt Warner Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. His career, which saw him ascend f ...

, NFL quarterback, twice named the

Most Valuable Player and MVP of

Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis ...

Robert Watts Robert Watts (born 23 May 1938)Adam Pirani, ''Robert Watts: Secrets of "The Temple of Doom"'', Starlog #94, April 1985, pp 23–26,62. is a British retired film producer who is best known for his involvement with the '' Star Wars'' and ''Indian ...

, artist

Sister cities

Burlington has one

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

, as designated by

Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establishment of " sister citie ...

: *

Barbacena Barbacena is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. As of 2020, the municipality had 138,204 inhabitants. The total area of the municipality is . It is in the foothills of the Serra da Mantiqueira south of the state capital Belo ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

, Brazil

Notes

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in Iowa Iowa populated places on the Mississippi River Cities in Des Moines County, Iowa Burlington, Iowa micropolitan area Former colonial and territorial capitals in the United States County seats in Iowa