Riverside, Iowa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 41°28′55″N 91°34′36″W / 41.48194, -91.57667
Riverside, Iowa
Location of Riverside, Iowa
Country	United States
State	Iowa
County	Washington
Area
- Total	1.0 sq mi (2.6 km²)
- Land	1.0 sq mi (2.6 km²)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²)
Elevation	650 ft (198 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	928
- Density	921.6/sq mi (355.8/km²)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	52327
Area code(s)	319
FIPS code	19-67440
GNIS feature ID	0460657

Riverside is a city located in rural Washington County, Iowa, United States, along the English River on Iowa Highway 22. It is part of the Iowa City, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 928 at the 2000 census.

1 Local fame
- 1.1 Future birthplace of Captain Kirk
- 1.2 Invasion Iowa
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Local fame

[edit] Future birthplace of Captain Kirk

The "U.S.S. Riverside"

Riverside has proclaimed itself the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk, a character from the television show Star Trek played by William Shatner.

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, asserts in his book The Making of Star Trek that the character of Kirk had been born in the state of Iowa.

In March 1985, when the town was looking for a theme for its annual town festival, Steve Miller, a member of the Riverside City Council who had read Roddenberry's book, suggested to the council that Riverside should proclaim itself to be the future birthplace of Kirk. Miller's motion passed unanimously.^[1] The council later wrote to Roddenberry for his permission to be designated as the official birthplace of Kirk, and Roddenberry agreed.

The proclamation declaring the town the "Official Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk," signed by Gene Roddenberry, is housed, along with a "Cigarstore Indian"-style carved wooden statue of James T. Kirk, at the Riverside Area Community Club (RACC), in a former beauty salon along Highway 22 in downtown Riverside. A large stone and plaque in the rear of the building purports to be the site of the future farmstead and birthplace of James Kirk, and the home of his family, in the c.2230s.

Nearby, Murphy's Bar and Grill in Riverside displays a special plaque of its own--in the back section of the bar. The two sites are popular with tourists during the annual Trek Fest.

The town now hosts an annual Riverside Trek Fest that includes such events as a parade, carnival rides, and fireworks in the evening. The 2003 festival featured a "Spockapalooza" battle of the bands, as well as a lawn mower "trektor" pull. Other Trek Fests have featured minor celebrities as guests, including Grace Lee Whitney (The Original Series' Yeoman Janice Rand), and Charles Napier (The Original Series' Adam of "The Space Hippies" of the episode "The Way to Eden").

Although not considered "canon", at least two Star Trek novels had material based in the real town of Riverside. "Best Destiny," an immediate sequel to the events shown in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," depicted Kirk's childhood in Riverside. the novel's opening chapter had a pre-teen Kirk playing with friends in fields, near the English River. This river in real life lies along the south side of downtown Riverside especially bordering the site of the annual Trek fest, and ends the city's boundaries.

Another novel, Final Frontier, not to be confused with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, was written as a "prequel" novel to the Original Series. Telling about the space adventures of James Kirk's father, Commander George Samuel Kirk, Sr., the opening and closing passages of the novel show a Captain Kirk, mulling over his Starfleet career options shortly after his first five-year mission. The younger Kirk was shown walking around the farmhouse owned by his family in Riverside. Its wrap-around veranda had views of both the English River and the Iowa River to the east.

The USS Riverside can be seen from the program Google Earth at the coordinates of 41•28'48.46" N and 91•34'42.78" W.

[edit] Invasion Iowa

Main article: Invasion Iowa

During a September 28, 2004 town meeting, the town learned that its residents had become the unwitting stars of a Spike TV reality show inspired by the Kirk connection. Over a week earlier, William Shatner arrived in town under the guise of filming a science fiction movie called Invasion Iowa.

[edit] Geography

The English River at Riverside

Riverside is located at 41°28′55″N, 91°34′36″W (41.481891, -91.576631)^[2].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.0 square miles (2.6 km²), all of it land.

Riverside is approximately 20 miles south of Iowa City along U.S. Route 218.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 928 people, 378 households, and 249 families residing in the city. The population density was 921.6 people per square mile (354.8/km²). There were 396 housing units at an average density of 393.3/sq mi (151.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.06% White, 0.54% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.43% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.32% of the population.

There were 378 households out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.1% were non-families. 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 33.7% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,080, and the median income for a family was $52,344. Males had a median income of $30,526 versus $26,645 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,744. About 1.2% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.8% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.