Lehigh, Iowa
Encyclopedia
Lehigh is a city in Webster County
Webster County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 38,013 in the county, with a population density of . There were 17,035 housing units, of which 15,580 were occupied.-2000 census:...

, Iowa, United States. The population was 497 at the 2000 census.

Located in a valley, Lehigh is divided in two by the Des Moines River, unusual for such a small town. Originally the two halves of Lehigh were two separate towns. While the town on the west side of the River was always called Lehigh, the east town was called Slabtown, and a piece of history marks the east side's roots––a sign that hangs over the playground with the words "Slabtown Traders," perhaps alluding to the flea market that occurs there every summer during Lehigh River Days. The "Slabtown Traders" sign was blown over by a gust of wind in the summer of 2010. It survived several floods while being located on River St. Lehigh was surrounded by coal mines until the early 20th century and home to a large clay sewer pipe factory until the 1980s. Dolliver State Park, Brushy Creek State Recreation Area and Woodman Hollow State Preserve are located within a few miles of the town.

History

Lehigh's first settlers, a Mr. Reed and Mr. Wright, set up a steam sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

 on the site in 1855. Originally, the town was named Slabtown because slabs, scrap from the mill, were used in construction. By 1870, there was a Methodist church and a school, and Oliver Tyson had purchased the mill and expanded it, adding a flour mill. Soon after this, Tyson opened a store. The town was later renamed Lehigh, comparing the local coal veins to those of Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley, known officially by the United States Census Bureau as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and referred to locally as The Valley and A-B-E, is a metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and...

.
In 1871, W. C. Wilson of Webster City
Webster City, Iowa
Webster City is a city in Hamilton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,070 at the United States 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Hamilton County. Webster City is known as 'Boone River Country' with the Boone River meandering along the east side of the city from north to south...

 opened a coal mine in Lehigh and formed the Crooked Creek Railroad and Coal Company. The company built a 3-foot gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...

 rail line from Judd, on the Illinois Central Railroad
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...

 8.5 miles south to the mines, including a 370 foot wooden truss bridge across the Des Moines River. The line was later extended to Webster City
Webster City, Iowa
Webster City is a city in Hamilton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,070 at the United States 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Hamilton County. Webster City is known as 'Boone River Country' with the Boone River meandering along the east side of the city from north to south...

. By 1894, the company had opened 5 mines, all using longwall mining
Longwall mining
Longwall mining is a form of underground coal mining where a long wall of coal is mined in a single slice . The longwall panel is typically 3–4 km long and 250–400 m wide....

. The Webster Coal and Land Company operated a mine near Lehigh from 1899 to 1902.

In 1878, Lehigh shipped 5,640 tons of coal. In 1883, 6,887 tons were shipped, in 1884, 9,000 tons. Membership in the United Mine Workers
United Mine Workers
The United Mine Workers of America is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners and coal technicians. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada...

 union is a useful measure of the importance of mining. In 1912, Lehigh was home to UMW Local 855 with 64 members (about 6.9% of the 1910 population).

The Crooked Creek railroad was widened to standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

 in 1880 and a line to Webster City was built in 1886. In 1916, the line was incorporated into the Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railroad, Iowa's longest Interurban
Interurban
An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...

 line. Diesel traction replaced overhead electric lines in the 1950s and the track was abandoned in 1962.

By 1901, Lehigh was large enough to support a new First National Bank, with an initial capitalization of $25,000. The bank must have been small; in 1910, O. J. Woodward arrived in town to become the cashier, manager and director of the bank.
In addition to coal mines, Lehigh was home to several other industries. The most prominent were brickyards
Brickworks
A brickworks also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock often with a quarry for clay on site....

 that used the shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...

 of the coal measures
Coal Measures
The Coal Measures is a lithostratigraphical term for the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. It represents the remains of fluvio-deltaic sediment, and consists mainly of clastic rocks interstratified with the beds of coal...

 as a source of clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

 to make both brick and drain tile
Tile drainage
Tile drainage is an agriculture practice that removes excess water from soil subsurface. Whereas irrigation is the practice of adding additional water when the soil is naturally too dry, drainage brings soil moisture levels down for optimal crop growth...

, firing their kilns with local coal. One of these, the Lehigh Brick and Tile company, won the contract to provide paving brick for Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....

 in 1896, but suffered a serious fire in late 1897.

In 1901, there were 2 large brickworks in Lehigh, the Corey Pressed Brick Company and the Lehigh Clay Works, which began operation in 1900. In addition, the old Lehigh Brick and Tile works was being rebuilt after the fire. Corey was mining clay from both above and below the coal seam. By 1903, Lehigh Brick and Tile was back in production, the Lehigh and the Campbell brickyard of the Webster city Brick and Tile Company. The Cory plant was primarily a brickworks, while the others primarily produced drainage tile.

Geography

Lehigh is located at 42°21′26"N 94°3′5"W (42.357332, −94.051283) on the west bank of the Des Moines River
Des Moines River
The Des Moines River is a tributary river of the Mississippi River, approximately long to its farther headwaters, in the upper Midwestern United States...

.

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 2.1 square miles (5.4 km²), of which, 2.1 square miles (5.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (2.80%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 497 people, 223 households, and 130 families residing in the city. The population density was 239.3 people per square mile (92.3/km²). There were 247 housing units at an average density of 118.9 per square mile (45.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.19% White, 0.40% African American, 0.20% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.21% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.20% of the population.

There were 223 households out of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were married couples living together, 4.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.7% were non-families. 35.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 20.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 110.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,227, and the median income for a family was $31,458. Males had a median income of $26,484 versus $24,250 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,816. About 10.5% of families and 14.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.4% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.
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