Orleans, IA

Orleans is a Dickinson County city wrapped around the south, east, and west shores of Big Spirit Lake in Iowa's Great Lakes region. The 2020 census counted 521 residents. The settlement began in 1895 as Minnie Waukon, with a school, post office, grocery, cottages, and summer visitors arriving by railroad from Des Moines. In 1897, residents voted 24 to 3 to rename it Orleans because the railroad came up from New Orleans. An early hotel and the excursion boat Queen added a resort-town chapter to the lakefront story.

The present-day city is smaller in its commercial footprint but still tied closely to the water. Orleans has no post office or school and little commercial business, while summer homeowners, public docks, Sunset Park, and the Spirit Lake Fish Hatchery keep the shoreline active. The Dickinson County Trail reaches town, and Ainsworth-Orleans Beach, Marble Beach, and Mini-Wakan are nearby recreation landmarks. Great Walleye Weekend comes in May, followed by July 3 fireworks. Spirit Lake Community School District serves the area, but Big Spirit Lake is the thing that organizes the local map.