Ireton, Iowa
Encyclopedia
Ireton is a city in Sioux County
Sioux County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 33,704 in the county, with a population density of . There were 12,279 housing units, of which 11,584 were occupied.-2000 census:...

, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 585 at the 2000 census.

History

The town was founded in 1882 as a 12 block lay out. The location was picked around the water stop of a railroad. It was a part of a larger series of settlements of Englishmen in Northwest Iowa that included Alton
Alton, Iowa
Alton is a city in Sioux County, Iowa, United States, along the Floyd River. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,095.-Geography:Alton is located at ....

, Le Mars, and Hospers. It was incorporated in 1890. The town served the local farmers with general stores, horseshoe makers, and equipment sales as well as a place to sell grain that could be transported by the railroads. http://iretonia.com/History/Ireton_Scenes_Buildings.htm Even though the rail road has been removed, several seed stores, a farm co-op, and many other agriculture related businesses remain.

The town was named after Henry Ireton
Henry Ireton
Henry Ireton was an English general in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War. He was the son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell.-Early life:...

, who served under Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

 during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

. He was also Cromwell's son-in-law.

The original inhabitants of Ireton were mostly English and Irish. Later when the larger Dutch settlements of Sioux Center and Orange City were founded, the population has had an increasingly larger Dutch population.

Many of the first residents of Ireton were veterans or sons of veterans of the American Civil War. There is an old military road/path that traveled near the town that served to move troops and equipment down from Minneapolis to Sioux City to the Missouri River and the western most portions of the Civil War. There were several soldiers that died on that path and were placed in a cemetery near a hill by that road. The Ireton cemetery was placed around those graves and now includes a bronze statue of a union soldier looking South in remembrance of its veterans.

Geography

Ireton is located at 42°58′27"N 96°19′4"W (42.974206, -96.317640).

Indian Creek, a tributary of the Big Sioux River
Big Sioux River
The Big Sioux River is a tributary of the Missouri River, long, in eastern South Dakota and northwestern Iowa in the United States. The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on "Big Sioux River" as the stream's name in 1961....

 flows through the northern part of the city.

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 1 square miles (2.6 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 585 people, 235 households, and 172 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 581.4 people per square mile (223.6/km²). There were 249 housing units at an average density of 247.5 per square mile (95.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.15% White, 0.17% Asian, and 0.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.34% of the population.

There were 235 households out of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.0% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% were non-families. 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,250, and the median income for a family was $44,063. Males had a median income of $30,673 versus $18,750 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $16,879. About 1.7% of families and 1.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Ireton, Hawarden, Chatsworth and surrounding rural areas formed the West Sioux Community School district in the fall of 1959. Prior to that time, education in Ireton was provided by the Ireton Public School. The town is home to the Ireton Elementary Center which offers classes for grades Kindergarten through first.

The town is also home to Ireton Christian School. The Ireton Christian School offers classes for grades Kindergarten through eight. It is a member of Christian Schools International.

Notable people

  • Stanley L. Greigg
    Stanley L. Greigg
    Stanley Lloyd Greigg served one term as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from northwestern Iowa. He was elected to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Republican Charles B. Hoeven in 1964 but lost to Republican Wiley Mayne two years later in 1966...

    , member of the U.S. House of Representatives
  • The Honorable Terry Huitink, Judge, Iowa Court of Appeals

External links




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