Fontanelle is a city in Summerset Township, Adair County, Iowa, United States. The population was 676 at the time of the 2020 census.

History

Fontanelle was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1855, by

New York state New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

native James C. Gibbs (1820–1907),''Adair County History 1976'' who followed the arrival of a transient named Collins. In the summer of that year, Gibbs purchased lots on the northeast of the city square where he constructed a large log cabin. He brought his family there to live. Gibbs ran a hotel out of the log cabin briefly. He died in 1907, aged 86, and is buried with his wife, Phoebe, in Fontanelle Cemetery. On August 23, 1871, Fontanelle was officially incorporated as a city. D. M. Valentine purchased lots immediately to the west of Gibbs', thus becoming the second settler. The city is named for chief Logan Fontanelle of the Omaha tribe, son of the French fur trader Lucien Fontanelle of the

American Fur Company The American Fur Company (AFC) was a prominent American company that sold furs, skins, and buffalo robes. It was founded in 1808 by John Jacob Astor, a German Americans, German immigrant to the United States. During its heyday in the early 19th c ...

and an Omaha tribeswoman.

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. The local terrain is rolling with a few

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. Ravines may also be called a cleuch, dell, ...

s near the streams. The east branch of the

Nodaway River The Nodaway River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 30, 2011 tributary that flows from southwest Iowa through northwest Missouri into the Missouri River. It ...

enters Fontanelle in its northwest quadrant.''History of Adair County, Iowa, and its People'' (1915)

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 676 people, 268 households, and 157 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 789.2 inhabitants per square mile (304.7/km²). There were 313 housing units at an average density of 365.4 per square mile (141.1/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 93.9%

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 ...

, 1.0% Black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.4% 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 ...

, 0.0% from other races and 3.8% 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 0.9% of the population. Of the 268 households, 28.7% of which had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.8% 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, 10.4% were cohabitating couples, 24.3% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present and 23.5% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 41.4% of all households were non-families. 34.7% of all households were made up of individuals, 16.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years old or older. The median age in the city was 41.6 years. 26.6% of the residents were under the age of 20; 3.4% were between the ages of 20 and 24; 24.1% were from 25 and 44; 21.3% were from 45 and 64; and 24.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.0% male and 51.0% female.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 672 people, 304 households, and 164 families living in the city. The

was . There were 336 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 99.7%

, 0.1% from other races, and 0.1% 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 0.6% of the population. There were 304 households, of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were

living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 46.1% were non-families. 41.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age in the city was 48.2 years. 22.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 3.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.2% were from 25 to 44; 27.4% were from 45 to 64; and 26.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.6% male and 52.4% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 692 people, 305 households, and 186 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 328 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 99.42%

, and 0.58% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.58% of the population. There were 305 households, out of which 23.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were

living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% were non-families. 35.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.70. 20.2% were under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 19.4% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 34.2% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females, there were 76.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $31,328, and the median income for a family was $39,861. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $20,550 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 $16,352. About 3.6% of families and 5.8% 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 10.7% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Nodaway Valley Community School District Nodaway Valley Community School District is a school district headquartered in Greenfield, Iowa, in the southwest of the state. It serves sections of Adair County, with small sections of Madison County. It serves Greenfield, Bridgewater ...

serves the community. It was formed on July 1, 2000, by the consolidation of the districts of Greenfield and Bridgewater–Fontanelle. Nodaway Valley High School is the joint high school.

Media

The city's newspaper is '' The Fontanelle Observer'', which now has a page on the website of the '' Creston News Advertiser''. The office of the ''Observer'' is on 5th Street. Defunct newspapers include ''The Fontanelle Register'' (established in 1862) and ''The Fontanelle Reporter'' (1879).

Churches

There are two churches in Fontanelle: a

United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

and an Emmanuel

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, established in 1874.Emmanuel Lutheran Church official website
/ref>

Notable people

Clel Baudler Clel E. Baudler (born April 4, 1939) is an American politician who served as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives from the 20th district. A Republican, he was first elected to the House in 1998 and assumed office in 1999. Career Baud ...

, politician *

Donald D. Clayton Donald Delbert Clayton (March 18, 1935 – January 3, 2024) was an American astrophysicist whose most visible achievement was the prediction from nucleosynthesis theory that supernovae are intensely radioactive. That earned Clayton the NASA Exc ...

, astrophysicist * Henry Winfield Haldeman, physician who practiced in the town

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Cities in Adair County, Iowa Cities in Iowa 1855 establishments in Iowa Populated places established in 1855