West Union, IA

West Union is Fayette County's seat, a city of 2,490 residents at the 2020 census where U.S. 18 meets Iowa 56 and 150. It began as Knob Prairie, founded by William Wells and named for his Ohio hometown. The county courthouse and Vine Street commercial district give the city a civic center, while the Turkey River watershed shapes the surrounding farm country. The place also has an oddly specific claim to history: Daniel Hess patented a carpet-sweeper design here in 1860, the invention commonly connected to the vacuum cleaner.

ATTREarline Baker / FortepanIowa / CC BY-SA 4.0

West Union's present-day experiment is under the streets. A 2008 green streetscape project rebuilt sections of downtown with permeable pavers, rain gardens, a civic plaza, and a city-owned shared geothermal system. Main Street shops and the Fayette County Historical Center keep the county-seat core in use, while the 40-acre Recreation Complex adds walking trails, sports fields, gardens, and fishing ponds. North Fayette Valley Community School District serves the surrounding communities. This is a farm county seat that turned a necessary street rebuild into a visible piece of civic infrastructure, so the downtown's drainage system is part of the local story.