Explore a destination located in Iowa, United States
Iowa, also known as “the Hawkeye State”, is home to over 3.1 million residents. The six bordering states include Minnesota to the north, Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the east and southeast, Missouri to the south, Nebraska to the west, and South Dakota to the northwest.[8] The entirety of the eastern border is made up of the Mississippi River, while the Missouri River runs along the western border. Iowa’s climate features all four seasons. The winters are cold with temperatures averaging near 14 degrees Fahrenheit while the summers are warm with temperatures in the mid-80s.[1] Many visitors come during the late summer months when temperatures tend to be generally decent and a wider variety of outdoor attractions are available.[6] The majority of Iowa’s attractions are located in Des Moines, the largest city in the state. It is home to the Greater Des Moines Botanical Gardens, the Iowa State Fair, and the World Food Prize.[8] Additionally, a fair amount of visitors come to see the Buddy Holly crash site where Holly’s plane crashed on February 3, 1959, making that day known as “The Day The Music Died”.[3]
Des Moines, Iowa’s state capital, is the largest city in the state with over 215,000 residents within 52 neighborhoods. Parklands cover over 4,000 acres with approximately 81 hiking trails throughout the city.[7] A few notable attractions near Des Moines include Adventureland and Prairie Meadows Racetrack Casino, located in Altoona, Trainland USA in Colfax, and the Iowa Speedway in Newton.[8]
The Iowa State Fair is also located in Des Moines and attracts more than one million visitors annually. In 2004, as the event was rising in popularity the USA Weekend named the Iowa State Fair the #2 choice for summer fun in America. During that same year, the event topped Disneyland in California and New York City’s Times Square. Many visitors attend the event to see the famously known butter cow sculpture. The very first butter cow was sculpted in 1911 by J.K. Daniels. The honor was passed to four different sculptors over the years until Sarah Pratt took over the job in 2006, currently working to sculpt the cow annually for the Iowa State Fair.[11]
The origin of Iowa's name is thought to have come from one of the Native American nations called the Ioway people, whose territory comprised the future state during the time of European colonization.[8] Years later, the state acquired the nickname “the Hawkeye State”, which is derived from a character named Hawkeye, in James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Last of the Mohicans, published in 1826. In 1838, territorial officials approved the nickname eight years before Iowa gained statehood.[9]
One of Iowa’s most well-known characteristics is corn production. The state produces the most corn out of all fifty states in America. According to the U.S. Department of Agricultural Statistics Service in 2019, farmers harvested approximately 31.1 million acres of land and produced around 2.58 billion bushels of corn. Currently, Iowa has nearly 86,900 farms in the state, 97 percent of which are owned by farm families. In addition to corn, Iowa is also ranked number one in producing eggs, hogs, soybeans, and ethanol.[10]
Iowa has a temperate climate with average temperatures in the mid-80s (Fahrenheit) during the summer months and around 14 degrees during the winter season.[1] The most ideal time to visit Iowa is during the summer season from early June to late August as temperatures rest in the mid-80s.[6] Seasonal rainfall in Iowa averages out to less than 26 inches in the northwest area and more than 38 inches in the southeast. Iowa frequently has a high risk of flooding due to rapid snowmelt and heavy rainstorms. The area experienced fatal flooding in 1993 when the state received twice the average annual rainfall.[1]
Iowa’s landscape gradually rises towards the westward expanse near the Mississippi River, which is located along the entire eastern border of the state. Iowa is the only U.S. state that has two parallel rivers designating its borders. In addition to the Mississippi River in the east, the Missouri River and the Big Sioux form the state's western border. Iowa’s bordering states include Minnesota to the north, Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, and Missouri to the south.[13]
Agriculture is very important and predominant within the state, with more than nine-tenths of land devoted to agricultural purposes and farmlands. The state could be considered ideal for crop production with Iowa’s ample rainfall and an immense amount of soil.[1] The United States has the highest corn production in the world. Statistics show that 15.1 billion bushels of the vegetable were produced in America in 2017 alone—2.7 billion bushels of the produce came from Iowa. Over 99 percent of the corn produced in Iowa is used as corn syrup, corn cereal, corn starch, and corn oil.[5]
In 1673, the first European explorers, Louis Joliette and Jacques Marquette, arrived in Iowa. Pioneers and Native Americans inhabited the land for hunting and exploring, although permanent settlement didn’t take place until the early 1830s.[1] The Louisiana Purchase, in particular, played an important role in Iowa's history and the state’s progression in attaining statehood. The United States bought the land of Iowa from France, along with other states that are currently part of America. However, European settlers did not reside in the land until the Native American people had been driven out. It was then, in 1846, that Iowa officially became the 29th state. Agriculture quickly became very prominent within the state, with farms covering the entire area by 1900. In current times, Iowa farmlands are most abundant in hogs, corn, and soybeans.[2]
One of Iowa’s most memorable days in history was February 3, 1959, when rising American rock singers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P., also known as “The Big Bopper”, lost their lives in a plane crash in Iowa.[3] Investigators concluded that the crash was due to bad weather and pilot error. Despite the fact that the young 21-year-old pilot already had four years of flying experience, he was unaware of the weather advisory that had been issued before the plane took off.[12] In memory of these three singers, Don McLean released a song in 1972 called “American Pie”, which refers to February 3, 1959, as “The Day The Music Died”.[3] The exact location of the crash looks much the same as it did in the 1950s—a vast, empty field in Iowa. On the nearest farm road to the crash site, there is a large pair of Buddy Holly’s trademark glasses. A memorial for the site wasn’t created until 1988, when Ken Paquette, a music fan, made a stainless steel guitar monument with three records, each including the names of the three singers.[4]
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