Postville is a city in Allamakee and Clayton counties in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. It lies near the junction of four counties and at the intersection of U.S. Routes 18 and 52 and Iowa Highway 51, with airport facilities in the neighboring communities of Waukon, Decorah, Monona and

Prairie du Chien Prairie du Chien may refer to: Places *Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Prairie du Chien ( ) is a city in Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 5,506 at the 2020 census. Often called Wisconsin's second- ...

. The population was 2,503 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 2,273 in 2000. The city is in Allamakee County's southwestern corner and Clayton County's northwestern corner in a quad county, or four-corner region, where four counties intersect. Winneshiek County is just to the west and Fayette County is just to the southwest of Postville.

History

The area of what is now Postville was first settled in 1843 by pioneer settler and mill worker Joel Post, hence the name of the city. Postville 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 1853. On March 17, 1873, Postville was officially incorporated as a city. In 1987, a group of

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

Jews started

Agriprocessors Agriprocessors was the corporate identity of a slaughterhouse and Meat packing industry, meat-packaging factory based in Postville, Iowa, Postville, Iowa, best known as a facility for the Kosher foods, glatt kosher Food processing, processing o ...

, a

Kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

slaughterhouse, in Postville. After numerous accusations of mistreatment of cattle, pollution, and violations of labor law, the federal government raided the facility in May 2008, resulting in hundreds of arrests of undocumented workers. Agriprocessors filed for bankruptcy on November 5, 2008; SHF Industries bought the plant at auction in July 2009 and it has resumed production under the new name ''Agri Star''.

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 an area of , all land.

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 2,503. 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 . There were 859 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 52.7%

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 ...

, 8.7%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, 2.8% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 26.8% from other races, and 8.3% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 43.0%

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.

2010 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 2010, there were 2,227 people, 744 households, and 497 families residing in the city. The

was . There were 902 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 77.0%

, 4.4%

, 0.6% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.7%

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 ...

, 14.3% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 32.0% of the population. There were 744 households, of which 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.7% 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, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.2% were non-families. 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.54. The median age in the city was 30.2 years. 32.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.6% were from 25 to 44; 18.4% were from 45 to 64; and 14.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.4% male and 49.6% female.

Ethnic groups

In 2017 about one quarter of Postville's population were recent immigrants from Latin America and Somalia; Greg Flakus of ''

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

'' stated that this was ethnically diverse compared to most Iowa towns, which are almost uniformly non-Hispanic white, even though "Postville is not all that diverse" compared to major American metropolitan areas. The earliest immigrants were from England, Germany, and Scandinavia. Orthodox Jews established Agriprocessors circa 1987; its founders came from New York City. At its peak, there were about 100 Orthodox Jewish families in Postville. After the 2008 raid, the number declined, and in 2017 there were about 50. Postville has services for Jewish families typically seen in larger communities. It also has a Jewish elementary school and a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

. A Judaic library opened in 2005, but closed after the raid. The 2008 raid led to the arrests of Hispanics; the resulting lack of labor drew Somalis to Postville from Minnesota and Wisconsin to work in the area kosher factory. '' Mother Jones'' said this caused a "cultural shift". '' Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America'' discusses the arrival of the Orthodox Jews.

Economy

Postville's growth was due to the presence of two large meat processing plants,

and Iowa Turkey Products. The Iowa Turkey Products plant burned in December 2003; it was rebuilt in

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Agriprocessors, a

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

meat plant, was the largest of its type in the world. As of February 2008 it employed about 900 people and purchased $100 million worth of livestock annually. In May 2008, it was the target of a federal

Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from transnational crime and ille ...

raid. Subsequently, a criminal complaint was filed against Agriprocessors and its principal for alleged violations of

child labor Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

laws. As a result of its legal problems, Agriprocessors became insolvent and was run by a Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee until SHF Industries bought it at auction in July 2009. It resumed business as Agri Star Meat & Poultry, LLC under the new ownership. , 700 people, more than 30% of the total population, work at Agri Star; about 100 are of Somali origin. Postville is also the home of a composites factory, Norplex-Micarta, started in 1975. The Norplex factory produces laminated plastics plate, sheet, and profile shapes. As of 2007 it employed between 150 and 200 workers.

Education

Postville Community School District operates public schools. John R. Mott High School is the local high school. Mesivta of Postville is the area

Notable people

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

(1879–1964), 44th speaker of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

, raised in Postville * John R. Mott (1865–1955), recipient of the 1946

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

, childhood resident of Postville * Brett Szabo (born 1968),

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player, childhood resident of Postville

References

Books on Postville

* The interaction of long-time Postville residents with newcomers was the subject of a book about the town, '' Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America'', by Stephen G. Bloom, a professor at

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. * A more recent book about the community and its experience with diversity before and after the May 2008 federal immigration raid is ''Postville USA: Surviving Diversity in Small-Town America'' by Mark Grey, Michele Devlin, and Aaron Goldsmith.

External links

Official City Website
Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Postville {{authority control Cities in Allamakee County, Iowa Cities in Clayton County, Iowa Cities in Iowa Jews and Judaism in Iowa Orthodox Jewish communities Orthodox Judaism in the United States Ukrainian communities in the United States 1853 establishments in Iowa Populated places established in 1853