Charles City, Iowa

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Coordinates: 43°3′59″N 92°40′33″W / 43.06639, -92.67583
Charles City, Iowa
Location of Charles City, Iowa
Country	United States
State	Iowa
County	Floyd
Area
- Total	6.2 sq mi (16.2 km²)
- Land	6.2 sq mi (15.9 km²)
- Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km²)
Elevation	1,007 ft (307 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	7,812
- Density	1,269.9/sq mi (490.3/km²)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	50616, 50620
Area code(s)	641
FIPS code	19-12765
GNIS feature ID	0455354

Charles City is a city in Floyd County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,812 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Floyd County^[1]. Charles City is a significant commercial and transportation center for the area, located on U.S. Highways 18 and 218, Iowa Highway 14, and the Canadian National and Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroads.

Charles City is known as the birthplace of the farm tractor in the early 1900's by the Hart-Parr Company.

The city was also the location of the last lynching in Iowa, that of James Cullen in 1907.^[2]

On May 15, 1968, a violent F5 tornado tore a 1/2 mile wide path through the town from south to north, killing 13 people,injuring 450 others, and caused $30 million damage. In town, 372 homes and 58 businesses were destroyed, 188 homes and 90 businesses sustained major damage, and 356 homes and 46 businesses sustained minor damage. Eight churches, 3 schools were damaged or destroyed, the police station was heavily damaged, and 1250 vehicles were destroyed. Overall, 13 people died, 462 were injured, and $31.5 million damage was done, inflated to $195.57 million damage.

Charles City is the location of the Dr. Alvin L. Miller House, a Usonian home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Charles City is also known as the site of the childhood home of Carrie Chapman Catt, a prominent leader of the woman suffrage movement and founder of the League of Women Voters.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Education
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Charles City is located at 43°3′59″N, 92°40′33″W (43.066514, -92.675885)^[3].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.2 square miles (16.2 km²), of which, 6.2 square miles (15.9 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (1.44%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 7,812 people, 3,339 households, and 2,083 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,269.9 people per square mile (490.4/km²). There were 3,597 housing units at an average density of 584.7/sq mi (225.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.92% White, 0.44% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.19% Pacific Islander, 0.79% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.12% of the population.

There were 3,339 households out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 24.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,568, and the median income for a family was $38,297. Males had a median income of $29,536 versus $19,904 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,659. About 8.5% of families and 11.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.6% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Education

Charles City is served by the Charles City Community School District, home to Charles City High School. There were two former institutions called Charles City College, the first a Methodist college that was absorbed into Morningside College in the 1910's, and the second a short lived branch of Parsons College in the late 1960's.