Marquette, Iowa
Encyclopedia
Marquette is a city in Clayton County
Clayton County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 18,129 in the county, with a population density of . There were 8,999 housing units, of which 7,599 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 421 at the 2000 census. The city, which is located on the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

, is named after Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 missionary Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...

, who along with Louis Joliet discovered the Mississippi River just southeast of the city on June 17, 1673.

History

Marquette is located directly across from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Prairie du Chien is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,911 at the 2010 census. Its Zip Code is 53821....

, and the two cities are connected by U.S. Highway 18, which crosses the river on the Marquette-Joliet Bridge
Marquette-Joliet Bridge
The Marquette–Joliet Bridge is a bridge crossing the Mississippi River, connecting Marquette, Iowa and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Local residents refer to the bridge as the Prairie Bridge or the Marquette Bridge; both terms are used equally....

. Effigy Mounds National Monument
Effigy Mounds National Monument
Effigy Mounds National Monument preserves three prehistoric sites in Allamakee County and Clayton County, Iowa in the midwestern United States.-Mounds:...

 and the Yellow River State Forest are a few miles to the north. The city of McGregor, Iowa
McGregor, Iowa
McGregor is a city in Clayton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 871 at the 2000 census. McGregor is located on the Mississippi River across from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Pike's Peak State Park is located just south of the city...

 is located just to the south. Marquette itself was originally incorporated as North McGregor in 1874, and it served as a railroad terminus
Terminal Station
Terminal Station is a 1953 film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of the love affair between an Italian man and an American woman. The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Production:...

 for its southern neighbor. Along with McGregor, the city became a major hub on the railroad, as grain from throughout Iowa and Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 was sent through the city en route to Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...

. Initially trains had to be ferried across the river between Marquette and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, in order to continue their journey, but this system came to an end when Prairie du Chien businessman John Lawler had a permanent pontoon bridge
Pile-Pontoon Railroad Bridge
The Pile–Pontoon Railroad Bridge was a floating bridge which crossed the Mississippi River in northern Iowa.Marquette, Iowa became a major hub on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, as grain from throughout Iowa and Minnesota was sent through the city en route to Lake Michigan...

 built to connect the two cities' rail lines. Marquette subsequently became home to a major rail yard
Rail yard
A rail yard, or railroad yard, is a complex series of railroad tracks for storing, sorting, or loading/unloading, railroad cars and/or locomotives. Railroad yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock stored off the mainline, so that they do not obstruct the flow of traffic....

, which even as late as 1920 was the busiest in Iowa, employing 400 people. Not too long afterwards, the railroad's significance declined, the last passenger train stopped in Marquette in 1960, and the pontoon bridge was disassembled in 1961. Today the city is a tourist destination, most notable for the being home to an Isle of Capri
Isle of Capri Casinos
Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. is a gaming company headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri which operates casinos and associated entertainment and lodging facilities in the United States and abroad....

 riverboat casino
Riverboat casino
A riverboat casino is a type of casino found in several areas of the United States which use a riverboat as a casino. Several states authorized this type of casino to limit the areas where casinos could be constructed under a type of legal fiction.-History:...

.

Geography

Marquette is located at 43°2′34"N 91°11′3"W (43.042838, -91.184177).

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 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²), of which, 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (4.69%) is water.

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 421 people, 194 households, and 108 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 345.2 people per square mile (133.2/km²). There were 222 housing units at an average density of 182.0 per square mile (70.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.57% White, 0.48% African American and 0.95% Native American. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.71% of the population.

There were 194 households out of which 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.3% 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, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.3% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.0 males.

External links

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