Rockford, Iowa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rockford is a city in Floyd County, Iowa, at the confluence of the Shell Rock and Winnebago Rivers. The population was 907 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Geology
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Rockford is located at 43°3′10″N, 92°56′57″W (43.052833, -92.949203)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.6 km² (0.6 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 907 people, 380 households, and 248 families residing in the city. The population density was 555.9/km² (1,439.5/mi²). There were 417 housing units at an average density of 255.6/km² (661.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.57% White, 0.33% African American, 0.11% Native American, and 0.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.33% of the population.

There were 380 households out of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.9% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,143, and the median income for a family was $40,875. Males had a median income of $30,288 versus $20,417 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,455. About 8.0% of families and 11.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.3% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Geology

One distinguishing feature about Rockford is its proximity to a world-class fossil collecting locale – the Floyd County Fossil and Prairie Park and Center located just west of Rockford. Originally a clay pit for the now-defunct Rockford Brick and Tile Company, the Floyd County acquired the property in 1990 and it is currently open to the public as a County Park.

A great number of fossil marine species are present within the Devonian strata of the Park, but the abundance of brachiopods is noteworthy. What makes this location special is that the calcareous ocean-bottom sediment that was deposited here never turned to hard stone as it does almost everywhere else in the region. This allows the fossils to weather out as discrete, often complete museum-grade specimens. Also, this is one of the few geological preserves in the United States where admission is free and collecting fossils for private use is allowed.