What Cheer, Iowa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What Cheer is a city in Keokuk County, Iowa, USA. The population was 678 at the 2000 census. The town is home to an historic opera house and the Keokuk County Fair.

1 Name etymology
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 External links
5 Additional reading

[edit] Name etymology

What Cheer is named for a Native American greeting used in modern Rhode Island in the 1600s. In 1636, Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island who left Salem, Massachusetts to seek religious freedom, landed at modern-day Providence and was greeted by Narragansett Native Americans with "What Cheer, Netop". Netop was the Narragansett word for friend, and What Cheer was an old English greeting brought to New England by English settlers. Over time, the story of Williams' welcome was absorbed into the legend of Providence.

When the future What Cheer was founded, it was named Petersburg for Peter Britton, the settlement's founder. The What Cheer story and name was brought to Iowa by Joseph Andrews, a major and veteran of the American Civil War in 1864. Andrews was a native of Providence and offered the name of What Cheer for a post office in the town in 1866. Petersburg was officially renamed What Cheer on December 1, 1879.

[edit] Geography

What Cheer is located at 41°24′2″N, 92°21′18″W (41.400603, -92.355119)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.2 km² (1.2 mi²). 3.1 km² (1.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (1.63%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 678 people, 307 households, and 182 families residing in the city. The population density was 216.3/km² (559.4/mi²). There were 345 housing units at an average density of 110.1/km² (284.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.38% White, 0.29% Native American, 0.15% from other races, and 1.18% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.44% of the population.

There were 307 households out of which 22.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.7% were non-families. 36.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.7% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 21.8% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 23.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,292, and the median income for a family was $36,500. Males had a median income of $30,859 versus $22,917 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,613. About 8.6% of families and 11.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.