Muscatine, Iowa

Muscatine
City
Muscatine County Courthouse
Location in the State of Iowa
Country	United States
State	Iowa
County	Muscatine
Incorporated	1839
Government
• Mayor	Dick O'Brien
Area
• City	46.3 km2 (17.9 sq mi)
• Land	43.6 km2 (16.8 sq mi)
• Water	2.7 km2 (1.1 sq mi)
Elevation	177 m (581 ft)
Population  (2006)
• City	22,719
• Density	520.5/km2 (1,352.3/sq mi)
• Metro	54,741
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	52761
Area code	Area code 563
FIPS code	19-55110
GNIS feature ID	0465186
Website	http://www.muscatine.com/

Sunrise over the Mississippi River in Muscatine

Muscatine is a city in Muscatine County, Iowa, United States. The population was 22,697 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Muscatine CountyTemplate:GR. The name Muscatine is unusual in that it is not used by any other city in the United States.

Muscatine is the principal city of the Muscatine Micropolitan Statistical Area (2000 census population 53,905), which includes all of Muscatine and Louisa counties.

History

Muscatine began as a trading post founded by representatives of Colonel George Davenport in 1833. Muscatine was originally called Bloomington when incorporated in 1839, but was changed to reduce mail delivery confusion as there were already too many Bloomingtons in the Midwest. Before that, Muscatine had also been known as "Casey's Woodpile". The name "Muscatine" is believed by some to be named after the Mascouten native American tribe. This seems somewhat unlikely, however, since the tribe existed almost exclusively in what is now Michigan and Wisconsin, and was lost to history almost a hundred years before the renaming of the town. More probable is that the town name was taken from the surname "Muscatine."

On May 25, 1849, Maj. William Williams visited Muscatine and provided a brief description in his journal:

Bloomington is a fine town, one of the most important points in the state. Its situation on one of the great bends of the Mississippi has great commercial advantages; [it] is the seat of justice of Muscatine County. Contains about 2000 inhabitants, is the natural depository for a vast amount of trade from the surrounding country, has many neat residences and several spacious brick mercantile establishments- a large steam mill, one smaller one, two printing establishments, 6 churches, 4 physicians, 8 lawyers, an neat court house and jail, Masonic lodge, etc.... This town is very prettily situated, in part on a level on the river for two streets back, when the ground rises and the remaining street is elevated in benches, the whole standing in a rise enclosed by a range of high bluffs which runs around it in a semicircular form, forming beautiful sites for residences. From the bluff there is a beautiful view of the town below and of the Mississippi for miles up and down. All steam boats land here, passing up and down.

A button company was founded in 1884 by a German immigrant named J.F. Boepple, producing buttons by punching them out of clam shells harvested from the Mississippi River. Muscatine was known as the "Pearl Button Capital of the World." Hole-punched clam shells can still be found along the riverfront.

Downtown Muscatine at dawn, looking towards the Mississippi River.

From the 1840s to the Civil War, Muscatine had Iowa's largest black community, consisting of fugitive slaves from the South and free blacks who had migrated from the eastern states. One of the most prominent community leaders was Alexander Clark Sr., a Pennsylvania native, barber and eventually a wealthy timber salesman and real estate speculator who helped found the local AME Church, assisted fugitive slaves, and petitioned the state government to overturn racist laws before the war. In 1863, Clark helped organize Iowa's black regiment, the 60th United States Colored Infantry (originally known as the 1st Iowa Infantry, African Descent), though an injury prevented him from serving. In 1868, he successfully desegregated Iowa's public schools by suing the Muscatine school board after his daughter Susan was turned away from her neighborhood learning center. Eleven years later his son Alexander Jr. became the first black graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law, and in fact its first black graduate from any department. Clark Sr. became the second black graduate five years later despite being fifty-eight years old, saying that he wanted to serve “as an example to young men of his own race.” Clark also rose to prominence in the Republican Party, serving as a delegate to various state and national conventions. In 1890, he was appointed ambassador to Liberia by President Benjamin Harrison. In fact he was one of four Muscatine residents to serve as a diplomatic envoy between 1855 and 1900, a remarkable feat for a town of such small size: George Van Horne was consul at Marseilles, France during the 1860s; Samuel McNutt served at Maracaibo, Venezuela in 1890; and Frank W. Mahin represented his country in Reichenberg, Austria in 1900. Less than a year after arriving in West Africa, however, Clark died of fever. He was laid to rest in Muscatine's Greenwood Cemetery. In 1975 a low-income apartment complex for senior citizens was built on the site of his long-time home and named the Alexander Clark House. The actual home in which he lived towards the end of his life was lifted from its foundation and moved to a new site about two hundred feet away. The University of Iowa's chapter of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) is named for the Clarks as a testament to their accomplishments and their place in the history of civil rights in Iowa.

Sam Clemens (better known by his pen-name Mark Twain) worked for a while at the local newspaper, the Muscatine Journal, which was partly owned by his brother, Orion Clemens. He made a few recollections of Muscatine in his book Life on the Mississippi.

Former Hotel Muscatine had recently been remodeled. However, the remodeling had been controversial; opponents stated that the changes would ruin the history of the building.

And I remember Muscatine—still more pleasantly—for its summer sunsets. I have never seen any, on either side of the ocean, that equaled them. They used the broad smooth river as a canvas, and painted on it every imaginable dream of color, from the mottled daintinesses and delicacies of the opal, all the way up, through cumulative intensities, to blinding purple and crimson conflagrations which were enchanting to the eye, but sharply tried it at the same time. All the Upper Mississippi region has these extraordinary sunsets as a familiar spectacle. It is the true Sunset Land: I am sure no other country can show so good a right to the name. The sunrises are also said to be exceedingly fine. I do not know.

— Mark Twain

His other, less flattering recollection of Muscatine is of being accosted by a lunatic who threatened to kill him if he did not proclaim the man the one and only son of Satan.

Muscatine's slogan, "Pearl of the Mississippi," refers to the days when pearl button manufacturing by the McKee Button Company was a significant economic contributor. In 1915, Weber & Sons Button Co., Inc. was the world's largest producer of fancy freshwater pearl buttons. From that time forward, Muscatine was known as "The Pearl Button Capital of the World". Weber is still manufacturing today, and celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2004. Next to the mother of pearl button history, Muscatine is nearly as well known as the "Watermelon Capital of the World".

Muscatine was hit by an EF3 (Enhanced Fujita Scale 3) tornado on the afternoon of June 1, 2007, which destroyed or damaged wide areas of the city.

As to the naming of Muscatine the book John Brown among the Quakers: and other sketches By Irving Berdine Richman on page 66 discusses how the Mascoutins were driven out of Michigan in approx 1642 and in 1819 Muscatine Island was known as Mascoutin Island. The assumption the Foxes and Sac Indian tribes absorbed the Mascoutins in the early 1800's.

Industry

Companies in Muscatine include HNI Corporation, The HON Company, Bridgestone Bandag, Carver Pump, Monsanto, Muscatine Foods Corporation, Musco and The Stanley Group.

The HON Company:

The HON Company designs and manufactures office furniture including chairs, filing cabinets, workstations, tables, desks and education furniture. Headquartered in Muscatine, Iowa, The HON Company has manufacturing facilities strategically located throughout the United States, and offers its products through a nationwide network of dealers and retailers.

The HON Company is the largest operating company of HNI Corporation (NYSE: HNI), the second-largest office furniture manufacturer in North America. Sister companies include Allsteel, Gunlocke, HBF, Paoli, Maxon, Hearth & Home Technologies and Omni Workspace.

As of November, 2009 The HON Company has manufacturing facilities located in Muscatine; Cedartown, GA; Owensboro, KY and Florence, AL; as well as distribution centers in Muscatine and Lithia Springs, GA. Showrooms are located in Muscatine; NY, NY; Chicago, IL; Atlanta, GA and Washington, D.C.

Media

Print

The Muscatine Journal newspaper circulates daily throughout the Muscatine area except on Sundays. It is commonly believed to have existed since 1840.

Radio

Prairie Radio Communications, a midwestern broadcasting company, has two radio stations in Muscatine. KWPC-AM, which has been a long part of the city's history, and KMCS-FM, which has only been in the community since 1995. Cumulus Broadcasting's KBEA-FM broadcasts from a tower near Wilton, 10 Miles north of Muscatine.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.9 square miles (46.3 km²), of which, 16.8 square miles (43.6 km²) of it is land and 1.0 square miles (2.7 km²) of it (5.87%) is water.

Notable natives and residents

• Oscar Grossheim Muscatine photographer produced about 55,000 glass plate negatives from photos taken between 1887 and 1954. Grossheim reportedly was working on a small portable camera shared his ideas with Steve Eastman of Eastman-Kodak company; also trying to build a portable camera.
• Jim Yong Kim - President elect of Dartmouth College, Professor of Medicine and Social Medicine and Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Director of the Francois Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights, and a former director of the World Health Organization HIV/AIDS department (in 2006 he was listed as one of the top 100 most influential people by Time Magazine)
• Norman Baker - entrepreneur, "Know the Naked Truth" (KTNT) radio pioneer , perfected the air-powered calliope
• C. Maxwell Stanley- engineer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, founder of Stanley Consultants, co-founder of HON Industries, and delegate to the United Nations.
• Ellis Parker Butler- author
• Lee Allen- medical illustrator
• Max Allan Collins- author of screenplay of the movie Mommy, which was filmed in Muscatine's Wood Creek neighborhood in 1995. Also author of the graphic novel Road to Perdition, which became a screenplay and was filmed in 2002, starring Tom Hanks and Jude Law.
• Terry Beatty- artist who has worked as a penciler and inker in the comic book industry.
• Scot Halpin- fan who filled in for drums with the Who when Keith Moon collapsed during a performance at the Cow Palace in San Francisco in 1973.
• Phil Vischer- founder of the Christian series VeggieTales

St. Mathias Catholic Church

• Dame Margherita Roberti, internationally famous opera singer who spent much of her childhood in Muscatine, including graduating from Muscatine High School. In 1970 she was knighted by the Italian government.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 22,697 people, 8,923 households, and 6,040 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,348.1 people per square mile (520.4/km²). There were 9,375 housing units at an average density of 556.9/sq mi (214.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.40% White, 1.08% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 6.04% from other races, and 1.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.30% of the population.

There were 8,923 households out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.7% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $38,122, and the median income for a family was $45,366. Males had a median income of $36,440 versus $23,953 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,483. About 8.0% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.2% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.

Points of interest

• Riverfront (which includes the Pearl City Station, Riverview Center, and "Mississippi Harvest" sculpture by Erik Blome)
• Mark Twain Scenic Overlook
• Kent Stein Park (which includes historic Tom Bruner Field)
• Weed Park and Aquatic Center
• Muscatine Community Stadium and the nearby Pearl City Rugby field
• Muscatine History and Industry Center
• Muscatine Art Center, including Musser Mansion and the Stanley Gallery
• Weed Mansion, Alexander G. Clark House, and many other historic homes dating back to the mid-1800s
• Two historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places (Downtown and West Hill)

Education and sports

Muscatine is home to Muscatine Community College and the MCC Cardinals. Muscatine Community School District is home to the Muscatine Muskies. Muscatine Schools cover Muscatine, Fairport, and Montpelier, as well as rural areas of Letts, Fruitland, and Blue Grass.

Sister cities

Muscatine has eight sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:

• Crespo, Argentina
• Drohobych, Ukraine
• Ichikawadaimon, Japan
• Kislovodsk, Russia
• Łomża, Poland
• Ludwigslust, Germany
• Paraná, Argentina
• Paysandú, Uruguay

External links

• Official website of the City of Muscatine
• Muscatine Chamber of Commerce