HUMBOLDT, IOWA

'Humboldt' is a town in Humboldt County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,452 at the 2000 census.

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Humboldt sports

Notable natives

References

External links

History

The founder Stephen Harris Taft laid out the plans for Springvale, which was later renamed to Humboldt, in 1863. It was named Springvale because of the several natural springs found near the Des Moines River. Springvale was renamed Humboldt in hopes of a merger between Springvale and Dakota City, but no merger took place.^[1]
Humboldt is named after the German explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt.^[2]
In July 1955, when contacts between Americans and Soviets were rare, Humboldt hosted a delegation of Soviet officials (and national and international reporters) for an overnight glimpse of rural American life.^[3]
On March 27, 1972, ABC-TV broadcast a half-hour documentary on Humboldt entitled "A Small Town in Iowa." The program was written and produced by Andy Rooney and narrated by Harry Reasoner.^[4]
The First National Bank of Humboldt and its shareholders were the primary victims of what the Des Moines Register described as “one of the most spectacular white-collar crimes in state history.”^[5] In 1982 Humboldt native Gary Vance Lewellyn, then a Des Moines stockbroker, attempted to pump up the value of the stock of a high-tech company by singlehandedly creating phony market demand for it. ^[6] To carry out the scheme, he illegally obtained access to bonds of the First National Bank of Humboldt valued at $16.7 million, and secretly pledged the Bank’s bonds as security for his personal orders of the company’s stock through Wall Street investment firms. ^[7] When Lewellyn missed margin calls on his stock purchases, the firms obtained the bonds. ^[8] Suspicious federal regulators closed the Humboldt Bank when it could not account for its missing bonds (and considered, but rejected, the idea of liquidating it). ^[9] Its accountholders were protected by federal insurance but the shares in the bank became worthless. For his crime, Lewellyn was sentenced to twenty years in prison,^[10] but served only five years.^[11]

Geography

Humboldt is located at (42.723631, -94.221520).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.4 km² (4.8 mi²). 12.0 km² (4.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.4 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (3.12%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,452 people, 1,965 households, and 1,202 families residing in the city. The population density was 369.7/km² (957.7/mi²). There were 2,090 housing units at an average density of 173.5/km² (449.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.41% White, 0.20% African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.65% from other races, and 0.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.50% of the population.
There were 1,965 households out of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.8% were non-families. 35.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.84.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.8% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 22.9% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 26.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 86.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $39,338, and the median income for a family was $49,526. Males had a median income of $32,438 versus $22,586 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,656. About 4.4% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.0% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.

Humboldt sports

In 2006, Humboldt High School's football team won the state championship title for its division.^[12]

Notable natives

★ Christian Clemenson - Actor

★ Frank Gotch - Wrestler

★ Harry Reasoner - CBS news correspondent, longtime co-host of 60 Minutes newsmagazine program, and ABC Evening News anchor

★ Dick Schultz - College basketball coach, baseball coach, and athletic director; executive director of the NCAA, and then the United States Olympic Committee

★ Jon Porter - U.S. Representative from Nevada

★ Bruce Reimers - NFL offensive guard for Cincinnati and Tampa Bay, 1984-1993

★ Kevin Dresser - Head wrestling coach, Virginia Tech, and 1986 national wrestling champion (142 lbs.) at the University of Iowa

References

1. City of Humboldt Iowa, Humboldt, August 2007. Accessed 2007-08-24.
2. Helferich, Gerard (2004). ''Humboldt's Cosmos.'' Penguin Group, 345-46. ISBN-10: 1592401066.
3. "Good for the Corn," TIME, 1955-8-01, and "Russians Learning Wonders of America," Long Beach Press-Telegram, 1955-7-26, p. A-4 (retrieved from Newspaperarchive.com).
4. "Small Town Offers Much," Abeline (TX) Reporter-News, March 26, 1972.
5. Mariam Rosen, “Hot Product: World-class Embezzler Gary Lewellyn Rebounds With a Fast-Selling Treatment for A.D.D.,” Dallas Observer, 1996-6-27.
6. ”Catch Me If You Can: A Stockbroker’s Get-Rich-Quick Scheme Goes Sour,” TIME, 1982-4-26.
7. ''Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. First Interstate Bank of Des Moines'', N.A., 885 F.2d 423, 428-29 (8th Cir. 1989); ''Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. National Ass'n of Securities Dealers, Inc.'', 582 F.Supp. 72, 73 (S.D. Ia. 1984).
8. ''In re Lewellyn & Co., Inc.,'' 929 F.2d 424, 426 (8th Cir. 1991).
9. ”Catch Me if You Can,” supra.
10. ”Lewellyn Gets 20-Year Term,” New York Times, 1982-11-18.
11. Rosen, supra.
12. "Male Prep Athlete of the Year: Tyler Nielson," http://iowaparent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070815/SPORTS08/708150375, Des Moines Register, 2007-08-15, accessed 2007-09-05.

External links

★ Humboldt Community School District