Niota, IL

Niota is an unincorporated community in Appanoose Township, Hancock County, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The 2020 census counted 114 residents. The community is located on the bank of the Mississippi River and is at the eastern end of the Fort Madison Toll Bridge, which connects Niota to Fort Madison, Iowa. Niota is the western terminus of Illinois Route 9 and is also served by Illinois Route 96, which is part of the Great River Road. That mix gives Niota a clear local shape within Illinois, 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. The community has fought Mississippi River flooding through its history. In response to Upper Mississippi River flooding in April 1965, the US Coast Guard sent its Goldenrod to the community on May 3, 1965, for relief.