Colo is a city in

Story County, Iowa Story County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 98,537, making it the ninth-most populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Nevada, Iowa, Nevada; ...

, United States. The population was 845 at the 2020 census. The town is home to the "Crossroads of the Nation" as

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...

and

Jefferson Highway The Jefferson Highway was an automobile highway stretching through the central United States from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. The Jefferson Highway was replaced with the new numbered US Highway system in the late 1920 ...

intersect at Colo. It is part of the

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Ames ha ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a part of the larger

Ames AMES, short Air Ministry Experimental Station, was the name given to the British Air Ministry's radar development team at Bawdsey Manor (afterwards RAF Bawdsey) in the immediate pre-World War II era. The team was forced to move on three occasion ...

Boone, Iowa Boone ( ) is a city in Des Moines Township, Boone County, Iowa, Des Moines Township, and county seat of Boone County, Iowa, United States. It is the principal city of the Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Boone ...

Combined Statistical Area.

History

Settlement of the area which would become Colo began in 1856 when the small village of New Albany was founded. By the early 1860s the railroad reached the area with the first train station in Story County being built in the community in 1863. Colo would be incorporated on April 26, 1876 and would take its name from the dog of railroad official John Blair. Reportedly Colo the dog succumbed to a grisly fate as it was crushed by a train that was carrying construction material. The community would see an influx of visitors in the 1920s and 1930s with the completion of the

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

and Jefferson highways which intersect in Colo.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land.

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2020, there were 845 people, 344 households, and 228 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was 793.6 inhabitants per square mile (306.4/km²). There were 367 housing units at an average density of 344.7 per square mile (133.1/km²). The

racial Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...

makeup of the city was 97.0%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.1% Black or African American, 0.0% Native American, 0.0% Asian, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.8% from other races and 2.0% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

persons of any race comprised 1.8% of the population. Of the 344 households, 29.1% of which had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.9% were cohabitating couples, 20.1% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present and 16.6% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 33.7% of all households were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals, 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years old or older. The median age in the city was 41.0 years. 26.4% of the residents were under the age of 20; 3.7% were between the ages of 20 and 24; 23.9% were from 25 and 44; 29.2% were from 45 and 64; and 16.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.2% male and 50.8% female.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 876 people, 348 households, and 252 families living in the city. The

was . There were 370 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.6%

, 0.3%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.3% from other races, and 0.5% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.9% of the population. There were 348 households, of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.6% were

living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 27.6% were non-families. 23.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age in the city was 40.9 years. 26.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.3% were from 25 to 44; 29.2% were from 45 to 64; and 14.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.8% male and 50.2% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 868 people, 339 households, and 248 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 354 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.70%

, 0.92%

, 0.46% Asian, 0.23% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.23% of the population. There were 339 households, out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.3% were

living together, 5.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.8% were non-families. 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.02. 27.6% are under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $41,711, and the median income for a family was $48,438. Males had a median income of $33,500 versus $24,091 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $19,173. About 2.8% of families and 5.6% 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 ...

, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Parks and recreation

Located near Colo is Hickory Grove Park, Story County's largest recreational, fishing, and swimming area with 445 acres, including a lake. Hickory Grove was used as a filming location in the 1996

disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, offensive (military), military/terrorism, terrorist att ...

Twister Twister most commonly refers to a tornado. Twister or Twisters may also refer to: Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paragli ...

. East of Colo, along the

, lies the Colo Bogs, which drains into the

Iowa River The Iowa River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the state of Iowa in the United States. It is about longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 and i ...

just east of

Marshalltown Marshalltown is a city in Marshall County, Iowa, and is the county seat of the county. With a population of 27,591 at the 2020 census, it is the 16th largest city in the state. Marshalltown is home to the Iowa Veterans Home and Marshalltown C ...

Education

The community is within the Colo–NESCO Community School District. The district was established on July 1, 1987, by the merger of the Colo and NESCO school districts. The district operates an elementary school in Zearing and a middle and high school in Colo.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Colo is located at the intersection of the historic

and Jefferson highways. The intersection is marked by the historic complex of Reed/Niland Corner, which includes a diner, vintage gas station, motel, and small park. For modern-day travelers, Colo lies at the intersection of

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route of the United States Numbered Highway System, with the highway traveling across the Northern U.S. With a length of , it is the third-longest U.S. Highway, afte ...

(halfway between

and

), and

U.S. Route 65 U.S. Route 65 (US 65) is a north–south United States highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 425 in Clayton, Louisiana. The northern terminus is at Interstate 35 just south of I ...

(halfway between

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

and Iowa Falls). The Overland Route of the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

runs through Colo, splitting the town in half. The community is within the

Clinton Subdivision Clinton is an England, English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton, Cambridgeshire, Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton (g ...

portion of the route.

Notable people

John Darnielle John Darnielle (; born March 16, 1967) is an American musician and novelist best known as the primary, and originally sole, member of the American band The Mountain Goats, for which he is the writer, composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. H ...

, musician and novelist. Founder of the band

The Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats are a United States band formed in Claremont, California, Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole me ...

. Lived and worked in Colo. * Michael Fitzgerald, longest serving state

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

in United States history (1983-2023) * Robert Lounsberry, 11th

Secretary of Agriculture of Iowa The secretary of agriculture of Iowa is an elected position in government of the U.S. state of Iowa that was created in 1923 by the extra session of the 40th General Assembly. The secretary of agriculture heads the Iowa Department of Agriculture ...

from 1973-1987

References

External links

{{authority control Cities in Iowa Cities in Story County, Iowa 1876 establishments in Iowa Populated places established in 1876