Mason City, Iowa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mason City is a city in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 29,172 at the 2000 census and has stayed close to 30,000 since 1995. It is the county seat of Cerro Gordo CountyGR6. North Iowa Area Community College and Hamilton College are located here.
Mason City is the birthplace and childhood home of composer and playwright Meredith Willson. The fictional city of River City, Iowa in his musical The Music Man is loosely based on Mason City. Willson's birthplace has been restored as a tourist attraction and is part of the Music Man Square complex that includes a plaza with a bronze statue of Willson in a band major's uniform.
Puppeteer Bil Baird grew up in Mason City; his creations were featured in The Sound of Music and are now exhibited at the MacNider Art Museum. Also from Mason City were book designer, author and concert impresario Merle Armitage; and Steven Clay, publisher of Granary Books (New York).
After a concert at the Surf Ballroom in nearby Clear Lake, IA on the night of February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash after taking off from the Mason City Municipal Airport.
Mason City is widely known for its sizable amount of Prairie School architecture, the largest concentration in one location outside of Oak Park, Illinois. The Rock Glen and Rock Crest districts along Willow Creek feature homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Burley Griffin. Wright's Stockman House has been restored and is open to the public. Also, Wright's Park Inn Hotel, which influenced Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius and other European Modern architects, and which is the only remaining hotel in the world designed by him still standing, is in the process of being restored.
Mason City is home to the Iowa Traction Railroad. The IATR is one of the last surviving electric interurban railroads in the U. S., and the only one that still uses electric locomotives to haul freight in regular service.
The largest employer is Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa. Other major industry includes door manufacturer Curries/Graham Company and the Kraft Foods plant that produces the nation's entire supply of refrigerated ready-to-eat Jell-O gelatin and Jell-O pudding snacks. Mason City is also a major production center for Portland Cement.
Mason City has some history of minor league sports teams despite its relatively small size. The North Iowa Outlaws junior hockey team began play in the North American Hockey League in 2005. The former North Iowa Huskies played in the United States Hockey League until 1999. Also, the Mason City Bats of the very short lived Great Central League played baseball here in 1994.
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[edit] Transportation
The town is served by Iowa Highway 122, and U.S. Highway 65. U.S. Highway 18 now bypasses the town to the south. Interstate 35 (eight miles to the west) serves the town as well.
The town also has a municipal airport; Northwest Airlines runs flights to the Twin Cities.
[edit] Crime
Dustin Honken/Angela Johnson Death Penalty Cases: In 2004 and 2005, Dustin Honken and Angela Johnson received federal death sentences for the 1993 deaths of five people. Terri DeGeus and Greg Nicholson were witnesses in a federal drug case against them; Lori Duncan and her two children were also killed. These were the first death penalties handed down in Iowa since the state abolished the death penalty in 1963.
Jodi Huisentruit Abduction: In the early morning hours of June 27, 1995 local television news anchor Jodi Huisentruit was abducted in front of her apartment building. The case remains unsolved.
[edit] Media
- KIMT - Channel 3 CBS
- Globe Gazette - Daily newspaper
- KCMR FM 97.9 - Radio Station (TLC Broadcasting)
- KIAI FM 93.9 - Radio Station (Clear Channel Communications)
- KGLO AM 1300 - Radio Station (Clear Channel Communications)
- KLSS-FM FM 106.1 - Radio Station (Three Eagles Communications)
- KRIB-FM AM 1490 - Radio Station (Three Eagles Communications)
- KSMA-FM FM 98.7 - Radio Station (KISS-FM) (Clear Channel Communications)
- KUNY FM 91.5 - Radio Station (University of Northern Iowa)
[edit] Famous people
- Meredith Willson, an American composer and playwright, best known as the writer of The Music Man, was born in Mason City. The fictional River City which was the Music Man's setting was inspired by his childhood memories of Mason City. The city features a footbridge bearing his name.
Famous basketball players from Mason City include:
- Dean Oliver - Mason City High School (1994-1997); University of Iowa (1998-2001)
- Jeff Horner - Mason City High School (1999-2002); University of Iowa (2003-2006)
[edit] External links
- Tourism Information
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- North Iowa Outlaws hockey
- "History of Mason City: The Early Years" article from the Mason City Public Library
