Adair, IA

Adair sits along a ridge in western Iowa where the land divides water headed toward the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The Rock Island Railroad arrived in 1868, and the settlement first went by Summit Cut, a name tied to that watershed divide. At the 2020 census, 791 people lived in the city, which straddles Adair and Guthrie counties near I-80. A yellow smiley-face water tower by the interstate gives travelers an unmistakable welcome.

ATTRMe / CC BY-SA 3.0

Adair's defining story came on July 21, 1873, when the James-Younger Gang derailed a Rock Island train roughly a mile and a half west of town and took a shipment of gold. The event is remembered at Jesse James Historical Park and during local celebrations. Daily life is more practical: Adair-Casey Elementary and AC/GC Junior High serve local students, while high-school grades are shared with Guthrie Center. City hall, the library, camping, emergency services, and small businesses keep the railroad town connected to the farms and highways around it.