| Riverside, Iowa | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
| Motto: Where the Trek Begins | |
| Location of Riverside, Iowa | |
| Coordinates: | |
| 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 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. It is part of the Highland Community School District.
Riverside proclaimed itself the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk, a fictional character from the television series Star Trek, with the agreement of Gene Roddenberry.
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The settlement of Riverside was established in 1872 and incorporated in 1882. The name, suggested by a Dr. Mott, is probably a reference to the townsite's location on the English River.[1]
The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway built a 66-mile branch from Iowa City to What Cheer via Riverside in 1879.[2] Riverside was just west of Iowa Junction, where the lines east to Muscatine and north to Iowa City diverged.[3]
Riverside is located at (41.481891, -91.576631)[4]. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.0 square mile (2.6 km2), all of it land. Riverside is approximately 15 miles south of Iowa City along U.S. Route 218 and 30 miles west of Muscatine on Iowa Highway 22. Riverside is on the north bank of the English River.
As of the census[5] 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 per square mile (151.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.00% 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.
Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, asserts in his book The Making of Star Trek that the character of James Tiberius Kirk had been born in the state of Iowa.
In March 1985, when the city 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.[6] The council later sent a letter to Roddenberry, along with a check for 52,000 dollars asking his permission to be designated as the official birthplace of Kirk, and Roddenberry agreed.
The proclamation declaring the city 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 T. Kirk, and the home of his family, in the c. 2230s. On the east end of downtown a former storefront now houses the The Voyage Home Heritage Center & Star Trek Museum, a unique collection of East Central Iowa regional history; it also houses a display of Star Trek and "Invasion Iowa" (see below) memorabilia, including Trek Fest Guests' autographed materials.
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 city 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"). In 2008, the Trek Fest sponsor "Riverside Area Community Club" invited actor Walter Koenig, to be the Fest grand marshal. Koenig portrayed The Original Series' (TOS') navigator, Ensign Pavel Chekov.
The 2009 25th anniversary edition of the Riverside Trek Fest featured special guests actors George Takei (TOS' helmsman, Lt. Hikaru Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (TOS' Communications officer, Lt. Nyota Uhura), and Walter Koenig. Trek Fest's 2009 grand marshal was the aforementioned Steve Miller, returning to Riverside for the silver anniversary event.
Although not considered "canon", at least two Star Trek novels had material based in the real city 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 depicts a pre-teen Kirk, playing with friends in fields, in rushes and river wetland along the English River. This river in real life lies along the south side of downtown Riverside, bordering the site of the annual Trek fest, and ending at 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 T. Kirk's father, Commander George Samuel Kirk, Sr., the opening and closing passages of the novel depict Captain Kirk, now an adult, mulling over his Starfleet career options shortly after his first five-year mission. The younger Kirk was also depicted, 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, which mirror the site of the real "Kirk's Birthstone" marker.
The USS Riverside NCC-1818 display/float, can be seen in the city's Triangle park, from the program Google Earth at the coordinates of 41°28'48.46" N, 91°34'42.78" W. As of November 2009, the Triangle Park will become Veterans' park, complete with a regional Veterans' Memorial monument; the temporary display area of the USS Riverside is at The Voyage Home Heritage Center and Star Trek Museum nearby on Highway 22.
The film Star Trek, set in an alternate reality from the main Star Trek universe, shows that Kirk was born in space and raised in Iowa. Nearby are the (fictional) Riverside Quarry, where young Jim Kirk destroys a 20th Century Chevy Corvette in an act of vandalism, and the Riverside Shipyards, identified by name by Captain Christopher Pike as the construction site of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), and an embarkation point for Starfleet Academy recruits, including an older Jim Kirk.
During a September 28, 2004, town meeting, the city 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 had arrived in the city under the guise of filming a science fiction movie called Invasion Iowa.
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