Eddyville, IA

Eddyville occupies a bend on the east bank of the Des Moines River, where Mahaska, Monroe, and Wapello counties meet. The river made the place a natural crossing and trading stop: early travelers provisioned here and used the ford while moving through south-central Iowa. That location still gives the city its most recognizable edge. A small park at the foot of Walnut Street looks over the river, while the larger city park fills the blocks between Third and Fourth and Main and Market streets.

Industry gives the skyline a different scale. Cargill's Eddyville operation processes corn into products including ethanol, high-fructose corn syrup, and gluten, making agriculture visible in the city's daily economy. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont schools operate the local high school, elementary attendance center, and a daycare center, keeping education in the same town pattern as parks and river streets. The result is a place where a historic crossing, a three-county boundary, a large food-processing plant, and a small-town school system all meet around one bend in the Des Moines River.