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trivia
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== Trivia ==
 
== Trivia ==
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* 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.
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* 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.
    
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
 
*[http://www.iowa.gov/ Iowa.gov] - Official website.
 
*[http://www.iowa.gov/ Iowa.gov] - Official website.