MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA

'Marshalltown' is a city in Marshall County, Iowa, United States. It is the county seat of Marshall County and the home of Marshalltown Community College.

Contents

History

Geography

Transportation

Demographics

Economy

Industry

Sister Cities

Culture

Notable residents

Marshalltown in the news

References

External links

History

Founded in 1853 by Henry Anson^[1]it was named after Marshall, Michigan. Because a Marshall, Iowa already existed; the town was named Marshalltown.

Geography

Marshalltown is located at (42.041742, 92.914580).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 46.7 km² (18.0 mi²) in Central Marshall County. 46.7 km² (18.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.11%) is water. Neighboring counties include Hardin and Grundy to the North, Tama County to the east, Jasper to the south, and Story County to the west.
Marshalltown Community College is located at the southern edge of town near the junction of US Highway 30 and Iowa Highway 14.

Transportation

U.S. Highway 30 bypasses the town to the south, while Iowa Highway 14 runs through the center of town. An expressway, Iowa Highway 330 runs to Des Moines.
Marshalltown has a local bus service (called Marshalltown Municipal Transit or MMT), taxicab services, shuttle car service to Des Moines International Airport, and Trailways Coach Nationwide also serves Marshalltown.
A municipal airport serves the county approximately four miles north of town. The closest commercial flights are in Des Moines, 50 miles to the southwest.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 26,009 people, 10,175 households, and 6,593 families residing in the city. The population density was 557.0/km² (1,442.7/mi²). There were 10,857 housing units at an average density of 232.5/km² (602.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.79% White, 1.34% African American, 0.37% Native American, 1.04% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 8.57% from other races, and 1.83% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.55% of the population.
There were 10,175 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.2% were non-families. 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,688, and the median income for a family was $45,315. Males had a median income of $32,800 versus $23,835 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,113. About 8.8% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.5% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.
Marshalltown has a relatively high Hispanic population compared to other towns in Iowa. This is largely due to the Swift meatpacking plant in Marshalltown, which employs many Hispanics who have moved to Marshalltown in recent years.

Economy

Industry

★ Fakespace (A Mechdyne Company) - immersive, networked and collaborative visualization systems

★ Fisher Controls - manufacturer of process control valves and accessories

★ The Marshalltown Company - manufacturer of American archaeology's tool of choice, the Marshalltown trowel.

★ Lennox - manufacturer of furnaces and air-conditioners

★ Swift - meatpacking plant

★ RACOM Corporation - Wireless voice, data and video communications for the Public Safety Industry

Sister Cities

Marshalltown has two official sister cities. These are Minami Alps in the Yamanashi prefecture of Japan and Budyonnovsk in Stavropol Krai, Russia.
The unofficial sister city of Marshalltown is Villachuato, Mexico. There is a symbiotic relationship between Marshalltown and Villachuato. Villachuato supplies about half of the workers to the Swift meatpacking plant, which would likely shut down without a continued supply of workers from this community, both documented and undocumented, due to a dwindling and aging native born population in Marshalltown and Iowa in general. The community of Villachuato would likewise suffer without the income from the plant. ^[2] In 2001, then Mayor Floyd Harthun of Marshalltown saw firsthand the degree of interdependence between the two communities when he visited their sister city Villachauto. In the mayor's words, "I was being self serving. We need people." In addition to noting that about a third of the license plates in Villachuato were from Marshall County, Iowa, he also learned of the essential role of money sent by Villachuatans living in Marshalltown in providing electricity, underground water, road paving projects, and in restoring the town church and town plaza.^[3]

Culture

Notable residents

★ Cap Anson, born in Marshalltown, baseball player in the Baseball Hall of Fame^[4]

★ Jerry Burke, born in Marshalltown, pianist and organist from ''The Lawrence Welk Show''

★ Jeff Clement, born in Marshalltown, 2002 Graduate of Marshalltown High School, baseball player for University of Southern California, drafted to the Seattle Mariners in 2005.

★ Frank Jack Fletcher Commander of United States Naval Task Forces at the Battles of Coral Sea and Midway

★ Benjamin T. Frederick, U.S. Representative, Marshalltown city councilman

★ Mary Beth Hurt, born in Marshalltown, actress

★ Toby Huss, born in Marshalltown, actor

★ Jean Seberg, born in Marshalltown, actress

★ (John) Blue Montgomery, born in Marshalltown. 1992 Graduate of Marshalltown High School. Professional Snowboarder (1994-1999). Co-Founder and President of Seattle based Capita Super Corporation.

★ Lee Paul Sieg, born in Marshalltown, former president of the University of Washington

★ Michelle Vieth, born in Marshalltown, Mexican soap opera actress star

★ Billy Sunday, resident of Marshalltown, major league baseball player and evangelist

★ Chad D. Nelson, born in Marshalltown, co-founder of the ILGA (International Lesbian and Gay Association)

★ Clifford B. Hicks, born in Marshalltown, Editor of Popular Mechanics magazine, children's book author

★ Hardcore punk band Modern Life Is War

★ Punk band Thugg Life

★ Metal band My Armageddon[1]

Marshalltown in the news

In 1996, the Swift meatpacking plant was raided by the INS and 148 Latinos were arrested and deported.^[5]
Again on December 12, 2006 the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E) staged a coordinated predawn raid at the Swift and Co meat packing plant in Marshalltown and at 5 other Swift plants in western states, interviewing workers and hauling hundreds off in buses. ^[6]

References

1. http://www.legis.state.ia.us/GA/80GA/Legislation/SR/00000/SR00019/Current.html
2. "Unofficial sister cities: Meatpacking labor migration between Villachauto, Mexico, and Marshalltown, Iowa" Mark A. Grey and Anne C. Woodrick
3. "Strangers on the Prairie Christopher Conte, Governing Magazine, January 2002
4. The Baseball Encyclopedia, , , , Macmillan Publishing, 1979, ISBN 0-02-578970-8
5. Preparing the Way: Hispanic Ministry and Community transformation in Marshalltown, Iowa Anne C. Woodrick
6. "U.S. Raids 6 Meat Plants in ID Case", article New York Times by Julia Preston, December 13, 2006

External links

★ City of Marshalltown website

★ Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce

★ Marshalltown Event Calendar

★ Marshall County website

★ Marshall County Arts and Culture Alliance website

★ Times-Republican website

★ Marshalltown Public Library website

★ Census Data