Waterloo, Iowa

Waterloo
—  City  —
East Side of Downtown Waterloo Iowa from the West bank of the Cedar River.
Location in the State of Iowa
Coordinates:
Country  United States
State  Iowa
County Black Hawk
Incorporated 1868
Government
 - Mayor Buck Clark
Area
 - City 62.0 sq mi (160.6 km2)
 - Land 60.7 sq mi (157.3 km2)
 - Water 1.3 sq mi (3.3 km2)
Elevation 883 ft (269 m)
Population (2009)
 - City 66,896
 - Density 1,087.3/sq mi (437.0/km2)
 - Metro 164,220
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
 - Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes 50701-50707
Area code(s) 319
FIPS code 19-82425
GNIS feature ID 468951
Website http://www.ci.waterloo.ia.us

Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States.[1] As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 68,747, with an estimated population of 66,896 in 2009.[2] It belongs to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the larger of the two cities, by population.

Contents

History

Waterloo was originally known as "Prairie Rapids Crossing". The town was established, according to the original researcher as reported by staff of the Grout Museum in Waterloo, near two Meskwaki [[American tribal (US)[American tribal]] seasonal camps alongside the Cedar River. It was first settled in 1845 when George and Mary Melrose Hanna and their children arrived on the east bank of the Red Cedar River (now just called the Cedar River). They were followed by the Virden and Mullan families in 1846. Evidence of these earliest families can still be found in the street names Hanna Blvd., Mullan Avenue and Virden Creek.

The name "Waterloo" supplanted the original name, "Prairie Rapids Crossing" shortly after Charles Mullan petitioned for a post office in the town. Since the signed petition did not include the name of the proposed post office location, Mullan was charged with selecting the name when he submitted the petition. Tradition has it that as he flipped through a list of other post offices in the United States, he came upon the name "Waterloo." The name struck his fancy, and on December 29, 1851, a post office was established under that name. The town was later called the same, and Mullan served as the first postmaster from December 29, 1851 until August 11, 1854.

There were two extended periods of rapid growth over the next 115 years. From 1895 to 1915, the population increased from 8,490 to 33,097 a 290% increase. From 1925 to 1960, population increased from 36,771 to 71,755. The 1895 to 1915 period was a time of the rapid growth in manufacturing, rail transportation and wholesale operations. It was during this period the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company moved to Waterloo and was shortly after Rath Packing Company had relocated from Dubuque. Another major employer Waterloo throughout the first two-thirds of the 20th Century was the Illinois Central Railroad. Among the others was the less-successful brass era automobile manufacturer, the Maytag-Mason Motor Company.[3]

On June 7, 1934. Bank Robber Tommy Carroll had a shootout with the F.B.I. when he and his wife stopped to pick up gas. Accidentally parking next to a police car and wasting time dropping his gun and picking it back up, Carroll was forced to flee into an alley where he was shot. Carroll was then taken to Allen Memorial Hospital in Waterloo, where he died shortly after.

Waterloo suffered particularly hard in the agricultural recession of the 1980s, due to the major employers at the time being heavily rooted in agriculture. In particular, John Deere, the area's largest employer, cut 10,000 jobs, and the Rath meatpacking plant closed altogether, losing 2500 jobs. It is estimated Waterloo lost 14% of its population during this time.[4] Today the city enjoys a broader industrial base, as city leaders have sought to diversify the industrial and commercial mix. Deere remains a strong presence in the city, but employs only roughly one-third the number of jobs it did at its peak.

Flood of 2008

June 2008 saw the worst flooding in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area had ever recorded; other major floods include the Great Flood of 1993. The flood control system constructed in the 1970s-1990s largely functioned as designed. For those areas not protected by the system, the Cedar River poured out of its banks and into parking lots, backyards and across the rich Iowa farmland surrounding the city. Although much damage was done, the larger, downstream city of Cedar Rapids was much harder hit.

An area of the west side of the downtown and an area near the former Rath Packing facility were impacted not directly by water coming from the river but were the result of storm runoff draining towards the river but then being trapped on the backside of the flood levy system. These areas did not have lift stations or alternate pumping capacity sufficient to force this water to the river side of the control system. Areas where lift stations had been constructed (Virden Creek and East 7th Street ) to pump this storm runoff into the swollen river remained largely dry (the east and north sides of downtown). Several areas experienced water seeping into basements due to high water table levels.

Below, according to the National Weather Service are the ten highest crests of the Cedar River recorded at East 7th Street in downtown Waterloo:

Historical Crests[5]
(1) 27.01 ft on 11 June 2008
(2) 21.86 ft on 29 March 1961
(3) 21.67 ft on 8 April 1965
(4) 20.78 ft on 23 July 1999
(5) 20.60 ft on 2 June 1993
(6) 20.54 ft on 2 April 1993
(7) 20.15 ft on 29 June 1969
(8) 20.00 ft on 16 March 1929
(9) 19.50 ft on 2 April 1933
(10) 19.26 ft on 31 March 1962

It should be noted that crests reported in the 1960s and prior were before completion of major flood control projects and therefore may not be directly comparable.

Geography and climate

Location of Waterloo, Iowa

Waterloo is located at (42.492436, -92.346161)[6].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 62.0 square miles (161 km2), of which, 60.7 square miles (157 km2) of it is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2) of it (2.06%) is water.

Transportation

Waterloo is located at the north end of Interstate 380. U.S. Highways 20, 63, and 218 and Iowa Highway 21, also run through the metropolitan area. The Avenue of the Saints runs through Waterloo.

Delta Airlines provides non-stop air service to and from Minneapolis/St. Paul from the Waterloo Regional Airport.

Waterloo is served by a metropolitan bus system (MET). MET serves most areas of Cedar Falls and Waterloo. Most routes meet at the central bus station in downtown Waterloo. The system operates Monday - Saturday. During the week the earliest bus is at 5:45am from downtown Waterloo and the last bus arriving downtown at 6:40pm. Service is more limited on Saturdays.

Waterloo is served by one daily intercity bus arrival and departure to Chicago and Des Moines. Service is provided by Burlington Trailways. New service to/from Mason City and Minneapolis/St. Paul provided by Jefferson Lines started in the Fall of 2009.[7]

There are currently four taxi operators in Waterloo and Cedar Falls. They are: First Call, Yellow, City Cab, and the newest is Cedar Valley Cab.

Metropolitan area

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of Black Hawk, Bremer, and Grundy counties. The area had a 2000 census population of 163,706 and a 2008 estimated population of 164,220.[8]

Waterloo is next to Cedar Falls, home to the University of Northern Iowa. Small suburbs include Evansdale, Hudson, Raymond and Elk Run Heights.

The largest employers in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls MSA, according to the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance, as of October 2006 include (in order): John Deere, Covenant Medical Center, Tyson Fresh Meats, the University of Northern Iowa, Allen Hospital, Waterloo Community Schools, Omega Cabinets and Bertch Cabinets. The complete list can be found at: http://www.cvedc.com/index_facts.html

Climate

Monthly Normal, Record High and Low Temperatures, and precipitation
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Rec High °F 65 66 87 100 94 103 105 105 98 95 80 67
Norm High °F 25.8 31.9 45 59.7 72.2 81.7 85 82.8 75.3 62.5 45 30.7
Norm Low °F 6.3 13.2 24.9 35.8 48.1 58.1 62.2 59.5 49.8 37.8 25.1 12.5
Rec Low °F -33 -31 -34 -4 22 38 42 38 22 11 -17 -29
Precip (in) 0.84 1.05 2.13 3.23 4.15 4.82 4.2 4.08 2.95 2.49 2.1 1.11
Source: USTravelWeather.com[9]

Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1860 4,337
—
1870 5,630 29.8%
1880 6,674 18.5%
1890 12,580 88.5%
1900 26,693 112.2%
1910 36,230 35.7%
1920 46,191 27.5%
1930 51,743 12.0%
1940 65,679 26.9%
1950 71,198 8.4%
1960 77,755 9.2%
1970 75,533 −2.9%
1980 78,987 4.6%
1990 66,467 −15.9%
2000 68,747 3.4%

As of the 2000 census[10], there were 68,747 people, 28,169 households, and 17,746 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,131.9 inhabitants per square mile (437.0 /km2). There were 29,499 housing units at an average density of 485.7 per square mile (187.5 /km2). The racial makeup of the city was 81.6% White, 13.9% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.4% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.6% of the population.

There were 28,169 households out of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.0% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.0% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% 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 2.97.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.0 males.[11]

The median income for a household in the city was $34,092, and the median income for a family was $42,731. Males had a median income of $31,491 versus $22,569 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,558. About 10.0% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.6% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Waterloo is administered by a seven-member city council and a mayor. One council member is elected from each of Waterloo's five wards, and two are elected at-large. The current mayor is Buck Clark, his predecessor was Timothy J. Hurley.

Library

Waterloo has one central public library, the Waterloo Public Library. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, 259,144 patron visits resulted in circulation of 413,525 items. The total collection consisted of 210,135 items. The library’s reference services, supported by seven Full-time equivalent librarians, answered 78,400 questions. Staff members and patrons regularly post reviews of books on the library's blog, Lost in the Stacks. The library’s 43 public access computers provided over 87,688 sessions for patrons.[12]

The library is governed by a board of trustees, nominated by the city mayor and confirmed by the city council: Robert Griffin, John Wood, Troyce Vich, Cindy Wells, and Sue Smith.[13] The library is directed by Sheryl Groskurth, MLS.[14]

The Waterloo Public Library is located in a renovated Great Depression era building that served as a post office and federal building. The building was renovated in the late 1970s for use as a library.[15]

Two New Deal-funded murals by artist Edgar Britton are on display at the library. "Exposition" is an image of the National Cattle Congress, and "Holiday" is of a picnic."[15]

Education

Hawkeye Community College is located in Waterloo. Neighboring Cedar Falls is home to the University of Northern Iowa.

One of two public high schools in the city is Waterloo West High School. Its school mascot is the Wahawk, a contraction of Waterloo and Black Hawk (the city and county names), and its colors are old rose and black. Its most famous alumnus is former amateur wrestler and coach Dan Gable. Its current principal is Dr. Gail Moon.[16] The other public high school is Waterloo East High School. Its athletic teams are called the Trojans, and the school colors are orange and black. Dr. Barney is the current principal.[17] Waterloo's private high schools include Columbus Catholic High School whose mascot is the "Sailor" and colors are green and white. It is supported by the Catholic parishes of Waterloo and Cedar Falls; and Walnut Ridge Baptist Academy. Waterloo also has a variety of Lutheran, Catholic and public grade schools such as Blessed Sacrament and Orange Elementary School.

Media

FM Radio

AM Radio

Television stations

Print

Notable natives

References

  1. ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  2. ↑ {{cite web|publisher=United States Census Beureua|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFPopulation?_event=Search&geo_id=01000US&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=waterloo&_cityTown=waterloo&_state=04000US19&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=population_0&ds_name=null&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=|accessdate=2010-08-07}
  3. ↑ Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925 (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.93.
  4. ↑ "City Profile". http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rfindlay/history.html. 
  5. ↑ [1]
  6. ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  7. ↑ "Jefferson Lines adds route to Waterloo, connects to eastern areas". Globe Gazette. June 19, 2009. http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2009/06/19/news/latest/doc4a3bcf6fe61a7543338425.txt#vmix_media_id=7011807. Retrieved 2009-10-31. 
  8. ↑ United States Census Bureau. "Cumulative Estimates of Population Change for Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Rankings: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008". http://www.census.gov/popest/metro/tables/2008/CBSA-EST2008-07.xls. Retrieved 2009-07-11. 
  9. ↑ http://www.ustravelweather.com/weather-iowa/waterloo-weather.asp
  10. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau. Census 2000. "Census Demographic Profiles, Waterloo, Iowa" (PDF). CenStats Databases. <http://censtats.census.gov/data/>. http://censtats.census.gov/data/IA/1601982425.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-31. 
  11. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau. Census 2000. "QT-P1. Age Groups and Sex, Waterloo, Iowa". American FactFinder. <http://factfinder.census.gov>. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=16000US1982425&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_QTP1&-ds_name=D&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false. Retrieved 2009-01-31. 
  12. ↑ Waterloo Public Library 2008 Annual Report
  13. ↑ Waterloo Public Library Board of Trustees
  14. ↑ About the Library Director - Waterloo Public Library
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Waterloo Public Library History and Mission Statement
  16. ↑ http://westhigh.waterloo.k12.ia.us/
  17. ↑ http://easthigh.waterloo.k12.ia.us/
  18. ↑ Stile, Charles. (July 20, 2009). "Christie announces lieutenant governor pick". The Record (Bergen County). http://www.northjersey.com/news/politics/nj_politics/chrischristieltgov072009.html. Retrieved July 21, 2009. 
  19. ↑ "John H. Leavitt, History of Waterloo, Waterloo Public Library". http://www.wplwloo.lib.ia.us/History/WlooBios/JohnHLeavitt.html. 

External links

Municipalities and communities of Black Hawk County, Iowa
County seat: Waterloo
Cities

Cedar Falls | Dunkerton | Elk Run Heights | Evansdale | Gilbertville | Hudson | Janesville‡ | Jesup‡ | La Porte City | Raymond | Waterloo
Townships

Barclay | Bennington | Big Creek | Black Hawk | Cedar | Cedar Falls | Eagle | East Waterloo | Fox | Lester | Lincoln | Mount Vernon | Orange | Poyner | Spring Creek | Union | Washington
Unincorporated
communities

Dewar | Washburn
Footnotes

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
 State of Iowa
Des Moines (capital)
Topics

Geology · Environment · Archaeology · Native Americans · History · Historic Places · Iowans · Visitor Attractions · State Parks · Delegations · Demographics · Governors · Legislature · Flag · Seal · Education · Sports · Area codes
Regions

Coteau des Prairies · Des Moines metropolitan area · Dissected Till Plains · Driftless Area · Great River Road · Honey Lands · Iowa Great Lakes · Loess Hills · Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area · Quad Cities · Siouxland
Largest cities

Ames · Ankeny · Bettendorf · Burlington · Cedar Falls · Cedar Rapids · Clinton · Council Bluffs · Davenport · Des Moines · Dubuque · Fort Dodge · Iowa City · Marion · Marshalltown · Mason City · Muscatine · Ottumwa · Sioux City · Urbandale · Waterloo · West Des Moines
Counties

Adair · Adams · Allamakee · Appanoose · Audubon · Benton · Black Hawk · Boone · Bremer · Buchanan · Buena Vista · Butler · Calhoun · Carroll · Cass · Cedar · Cerro Gordo · Cherokee · Chickasaw · Clarke · Clay · Clayton · Clinton · Crawford · Dallas · Davis · Decatur · Delaware · Des Moines · Dickinson · Dubuque · Emmet · Fayette · Floyd · Franklin · Fremont · Greene · Grundy · Guthrie · Hamilton · Hancock · Hardin · Harrison · Henry · Howard · Humboldt · Ida · Iowa · Jackson · Jasper · Jefferson · Johnson · Jones · Keokuk · Kossuth · Lee · Linn · Louisa · Lucas · Lyon · Madison · Mahaska · Marion · Marshall · Mills · Mitchell · Monona · Monroe · Montgomery · Muscatine · O'Brien · Osceola · Page · Palo Alto · Plymouth · Pocahontas · Polk · Pottawattamie · Poweshiek · Ringgold · Sac · Scott · Shelby · Sioux · Story · Tama · Taylor · Union · Van Buren · Wapello · Warren · Washington · Wayne · Webster · Winnebago · Winneshiek · Woodbury · Worth · Wright