Fort Madison & Keokuk, Iowa
 

Thought I'd combine these two because they form a Micropolitan Statistical Area which has a total population of about 42,000. They are located on the Mississippi about 22 miles apart. They are also both listed as county seats for Lee County, Iowa.

Starting with Fort Madison (pop ~ 11,000, down from over 16,000 back in 1960). I stopped at the visitors center, but instead decided to tour an old train station museum nearby. Some interesting stuff, and a crusty old tour guide named Andy. I didn't take many pics of the station or trains (which passed by about every 10 minutes), and unfortunately neglected to take one of Andy. But I did get a few of the city, so here we go:

1.
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Ft Madison, IA 01 by exithacan, on Flickr

2. Train Station
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Ft Madison, IA 04 by exithacan, on Flickr

3. Part of the train museum tour.
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Ft Madison, IA 02 by exithacan, on Flickr

4.
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Ft Madison, IA 03 by exithacan, on Flickr

5.
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Ft Madison, IA 05 by exithacan, on Flickr

6.
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Ft Madison, IA 06 by exithacan, on Flickr

7.
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Ft Madison, IA 07 by exithacan, on Flickr

8.
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Ft Madison, IA 08 by exithacan, on Flickr

9.
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Ft Madison, IA 09 by exithacan, on Flickr

10.
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Ft Madison, IA 10 by exithacan, on Flickr

11.
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Ft Madison, IA 11 by exithacan, on Flickr

12.
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Ft Madison, IA 12 by exithacan, on Flickr

13. I didn't realize the Lady had a relative in Iowa.
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Ft Madison, IA 13 by exithacan, on Flickr

14.
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Ft Madison, IA 14 by exithacan, on Flickr

15.
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Ft Madison, IA 20 by exithacan, on Flickr

16.
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Ft Madison, IA 17 by exithacan, on Flickr

17. Ooooooh, some brick streets.
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Ft Madison, IA 16 by exithacan, on Flickr

18.
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Ft Madison, IA 15 by exithacan, on Flickr

19.
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Ft Madison, IA 18 by exithacan, on Flickr

20.
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Ft Madison, IA 19 by exithacan, on Flickr

21.
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Ft Madison, IA 21 by exithacan, on Flickr

22. Finally, one of the larger employees, the Iowa State Penitentiary, the state's maximum prison.
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Ft Madison, IA 22 by exithacan, on Flickr



Now on to Keokuk (don't ya just love that name?). The city is partly known for its lock & dam and power plant built in 1913. There's a population of about 10,700 (down from over 15,000 back in 1960). Anyway, here's some pics:

1.
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Keokuk, Iowa 08 by exithacan, on Flickr

2. Lock & Dam (in background) with power plant behind locks, notice the flood waters on the side.
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Keokuk, Iowa 13 by exithacan, on Flickr

3. Nearby waterworks ("The Best Water in Iowa")
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Keokuk, Iowa 09 by exithacan, on Flickr

4.
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Keokuk, Iowa 10 by exithacan, on Flickr

5.
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Keokuk, Iowa 11 by exithacan, on Flickr

6.
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Keokuk, Iowa 01 by exithacan, on Flickr

7.
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Keokuk, Iowa 02 by exithacan, on Flickr

8.
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Keokuk, Iowa 03 by exithacan, on Flickr

9.
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Keokuk, Iowa 04 by exithacan, on Flickr

10.
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Keokuk, Iowa 05 by exithacan, on Flickr

11. Damn red dot :(
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Keokuk, Iowa 07 by exithacan, on Flickr

12.
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Keokuk, Iowa 28 by exithacan, on Flickr

13.
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Keokuk, Iowa 29 by exithacan, on Flickr

14.
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Keokuk, Iowa 32 by exithacan, on Flickr

15.
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Keokuk, Iowa 31 by exithacan, on Flickr

16.
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Keokuk, Iowa 25 by exithacan, on Flickr

17.
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Keokuk, Iowa 26 by exithacan, on Flickr

18.
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Keokuk, Iowa 27 by exithacan, on Flickr

19.
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Keokuk, Iowa 15 by exithacan, on Flickr

20.
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Keokuk, Iowa 16 by exithacan, on Flickr

21. Enough wires for ya?
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Keokuk, Iowa 14 by exithacan, on Flickr

22.
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Keokuk, Iowa 06 by exithacan, on Flickr

23. Old BPOE building.
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Keokuk, Iowa 22 by exithacan, on Flickr

24.
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Keokuk, Iowa 20 by exithacan, on Flickr

25.
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Keokuk, Iowa 19 by exithacan, on Flickr

26.
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Keokuk, Iowa 23 by exithacan, on Flickr

27.
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Keokuk, Iowa 18 by exithacan, on Flickr

28.
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Keokuk, Iowa 17 by exithacan, on Flickr

29.
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Keokuk, Iowa 21 by exithacan, on Flickr

30.
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Keokuk, Iowa 30 by exithacan, on Flickr

31.
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Keokuk, Iowa 24 by exithacan, on Flickr


Hope you didn't mind some smaller out of the way places, and enjoyed the tours. :)

Very nice! I've only been through Fort Madison while on the train but didn't see much since it was night. Keokuk looks like it would clean up nicely and both towns have interesting structures.

Up here when a person says that somebody is "living in Ft Madison" it usually means they're at the state pen. :yes:

I'm enjoying the tour very much. I live so close, I need to explore southern Iowa more.

Sweet as all get-out is all I have to say, and no frankly, I enjoy small towns on the same level as big ones.

You wouldn't have any first hand knowledge of that would you? :sly:

@ montrealiste - I'm a sucker for small cities. Maybe cause I grew up in one. :shrug:

:yes:....wait, I mean :no:

Thanks!

These are great tours, Ex-Ithacan. My father and I drove out to Kansas City in 2011 and so far you are hitting places I remember fondly, starting with the Hannibal thread. We hit Keokuk to see a large set of barges go through the locks. We also toured that old steamboat in picture #5, it was worthwhile, but it looks like the floodwaters precluded that for you.

I did a drive of the Mississippi River cities in Iowa a couple years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Fort Madison and Keokuk are great little cities. Muscatine was surprisingly nice, but Burlington was my favorite.

Glad you guys like the tours. And standby Tt. :tup:




Yep, that's what I figured. ;)

Very nice river city tours!! Both towns appear to be neatly kept despite the population decline!! :tup:

Nice pictures! It's good to see some Iowa on here. I didn't expect to see rowhouses; I guess that's due to the influence of St. Louis down the river.

thanks for the pics. i love these river towns' old building stock.

-

Thanks for the pics. Iowa certainly has some nice surprises.

very interesting. love the grand train station and the damworks.

the streets are so wide and clean you could eat off'm!