Fertile, IA

Fertile is a city in Worth County, Iowa, United States. The 2020 census counted 305 residents. Fertile is part of the Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area. The community was first called Rhodes Mill after William Rhodes, who settled there in 1856 and built a house. That mix gives Fertile a clear local shape within Iowa, with older layers still visible in current places. The local scoop is a place whose streets, landmarks, and institutions keep its earlier story close to the present. A land speculator created a fictional town nearby and named it Fontanelle, though the locals called it Putsey.