Panora, IA

Panora was platted in 1851 and became Guthrie County's first town and original county seat. A fourteen-year contest eventually moved county government to Guthrie Center, but Panora kept a strong connection to the county's early institutions. A mill on the Middle Raccoon River shaped early commerce: Reese Mill, built in 1852, was the first mill west of Des Moines, and Lenon Mill later became Lenon Mill Park. The old Milwaukee rail route now carries the Raccoon River Valley Trail, giving Panora's river-and-rail history a present-day line through town.

ATTRBeingmerry / CC BY-SA 4.0

The city and county tourism map still point toward Town Square Park, the Guthrie County Historical Village, Lenon Mill Park, and the trailhead. Panora is a Guthrie County city with a courthouse-era past, a mill site by the river, and an old rail line repurposed as a trail. Its name is a shortened form of panorama, a small clue to the way the town's hillside setting first struck early settlers. That name still suits the hillside town today.