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| == Trivia == | | == Trivia == |
| + | * Ripley's Believe It or Not has dubbed Burlington's Snake Alley the most crooked street in the world. |
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| + | * Strawberry Point is the home of the world's largest strawberry. |
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| + | * The state's smallest city park is situated in the middle of the road in Hiteman. |
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| + | * Scranton is home to Iowa's oldest water tower still in service. |
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| + | * Dubuque is the state's oldest city. |
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| + | * Crystal Lake is home to a statue of the world's largest bullhead fish. |
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| + | * Rathbun Dam and Reservoir is the largest body of water in the state. |
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| + | * Spirit Lake is the largest glacier-made lake in the state. |
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| + | * West Okoboji is the deepest natural lake in the state. Its depth is 136 feet. |
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| + | * Imes Bridge is the oldest of Madison County's six bridges. |
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| + | * Iowa's longest and highest bridge crosses Lake Red Rock. |
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| + | * Elk Horn in the largest Danish settlement in the United States. |
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| + | * At 16 miles, East Okoboji is the longest natural lake in the state. |
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| + | * Kalona is the largest Amish community west of the Mississippi River. |
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| + | * The state's lowest elevation point (at 480 feet) is in Lee County. |
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| + | * The Holliwell Bridge is the longest bridge in Madison County. |
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| + | * Francis Drake was 66 years old at his inauguration and Iowa's oldest governor. |
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| + | * Iowa's oldest continually running theater is in Story City. |
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| + | * The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art houses the largest collection of Grant Wood artwork. |
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| + | * Fenlon Place Elevator in Dubuque is the world's steepest and shortest railway. |
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| + | * Wright County has the highest percentage of grade-A topsoil in the nation. |
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| + | * Quaker Oats, in Cedar Rapids, is the largest cereal company in the world. |
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| + | * The Saint Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville is the only basilica in the United States situated outside a major metropolitan area. |
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| + | * Clarion is the only county seat in the exact center of the county. |
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| + | * Dubuque is home to the only county courthouse with a gold dome. |
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| + | * Cornell College is the only school in the nation to have its entire campus listed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
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| + | * The Sergeant Floyd Monument in Sioux City honors the only man to die during the Lewis and Clark expedition. |
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| + | * Maynard Reece is the only artist to win the Federal Duck Stamp competition five times. |
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| + | * A bronze life-sized sculpture of a Norwegian immigrant family (circa 1860) is located on a six acre restored prairie site located at the east entry to Lake Mills on Highway 105. |
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| + | * Iowa's only operating antique carousel is located in the city of Story City. |
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| + | * Knoxville's National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum is the only museum in the country dedicated to preserving the history of sprint car racing. |
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| + | * Iowa's only fire tower is situated in Yellow River State Forest. |
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| + | * Sabula is Iowa's only town on an island. |
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| + | * Herbert Hoover, a West Branch native, was the 31st president of the United States and the first one born west of the Mississippi. |
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| + | * Mamie Doud Eisenhower's birthplace is located in Boone and includes a restored frame house, complete with summer kitchen and original furniture from the family. |
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| + | * Van Meter is the hometown of baseball's Bob Feller, an Iowa farm boy who went on to greatness with the Cleveland Indians during the Golden Age of baseball. |
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| + | * Born Donnabelle Mullenger in Denison, Oscar Award-winning actress, Donna Reed, started her career at the young age of 16. |
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| + | * Born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, John Wayne was the son of a pharmacist and grew up to become one of Hollywood's most popular movie stars. |
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| + | * Meredith Willson, who played with the famous John Philip Sousa and the New York Philharmonic before launching his career as a famous composer and lyricist, is a Mason City native. |
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| + | * Glenn Miller, noted trombonist and orchestra leader, was born in Clarinda located in Southwest Iowa. |
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| + | * The town of Fort Atkinson was the site of the only fort ever built by the U.S. government to protect one Indian tribe from another. |
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| + | * Campers and motor homes are manufactured in Winnebago County. They're called Winnebago's. |
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| + | * Iowa is the only state whose east and west borders are 100% formed by water. |
| + | * Missouri and Mississippi rivers. |
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| + | * The highest double track railroad bridge in the world, the Kate Shelley Bridge, is located at Boone. |
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| + | * Iowa is the only state name that starts with two vowels. |
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| + | * The famous actor John Wayne was born in Winterset on May 26, 1907. |
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| + | * Iowa State University is the oldest land grant college in the U.S.A. |
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| + | * Decorah hosts Nordic Fest a three-day celebration of Decorah's Scandinavian heritage. |
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| + | * The National Balloon Museum in Indianola chronicles more than 200 years of ballooning history. |
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| + | * Sheldon High School Summer Theatre, the only high school repertory in Iowa and one of just a few in the nation presents a different play for each week in June and July. |
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| == External links == | | == External links == |
| *[http://www.iowa.gov/ Iowa.gov] - Official website. | | *[http://www.iowa.gov/ Iowa.gov] - Official website. |