Gladbrook, IA

Gladbrook is a Tama County city in central Iowa, about twenty miles northeast of Marshalltown and forty-five miles southwest of Waterloo. The post office dates to 1880, and a railroad official coined the town's name. That rail beginning still shows in the surrounding farm roads and in the city's place within central Iowa's small-town network.

Gladbrook's present-day personality gathers around a handful of unusually specific institutions. The City Centre houses Pat Acton's Matchstick Marvels, a museum of large matchstick constructions that draws visitors from across the country and abroad, along with City Hall and the Gladbrook Theater. Each summer, the Corn Carnival brings a parade, entertainment, reunions, and community projects; the celebration began in 1922. Union Grove State Park sits about five miles south, while the Gladbrook-Reinbeck school district connects the city with nearby communities. Gladbrook is a farm-country city with a strong volunteer culture, a handmade museum, and a festival that turns several June days into the main shared event of the year.