Keokuk Iowa
Keokuk Iowa |
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Above is a panoramic view of Keokuk as seen from across the river in Illinois. The image is a link; click on it to load a much larger copy that you can scroll through. Just the FactsNOTE: The data that follows derives primarily from the 1990 U.S. census and as such is a decade out of date. Comparative data for the U.S. at large and for the St. Louis metro area are presented to establish perspective. St. Louis was chosen because it is the largest city on the river as well as smack dab in the middle.
Towns and cities settle in a particular location for good reason. The communities on the Mississippi are there because of the river, but the river alone is usually not the complete explanation. Dubuque for example grew up around its early lead mines and the river made the lead accessible. Keokuk's situation is due entirely to geography. Known as "The Gate City," Keokuk owes its existence to the presence of the Des Moines river and rapids in the Mississippi. As rivers go the Mississippi is fairly free of obstructions, especially below the headwaters region. Below the Falls of St. Anthony in Minneapolis, there is only one natural obstruction, the rapids at Keokuk. The Keokuk rapids were twelve miles long and dropped through twenty four feet. Today of course those rapids are hidden beneath the dam pool created by lock and dam number nineteen.
The Keokuk rapids, as I mentioned above, dropped through twenty four feet. In order to clear the rapids and provide sufficient depth for navigation, the Keokuk lock has a thirty eight foot lift. Only Lock and Dam One and the lock at The Falls of Saint Anthony in Minneapolis have a greater lift. The people of Keokuk took advantage of that much distance between the two levels of the river and built a hydroelectric generator. The Keokuk electrical plant was part of the original 1913 lock project, and, when completed, was the largest electric generator in the world. You can't miss it in the photo at the top of this page.
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Where Missouri and Iowa meet along the banks of the Mississippi, their state border is formed by the Des Moines river. Keokuk is located on the Mississippi just north of the Des Moines. This is very pretty country; the Des Moines river is lovely. There are some wonderful small towns along the Des Moines. Take a weekend some summer to walk through the rose garden in Benton's Port Iowa. It'll cure whatever aliments of the spirit you may have. But I'm getting off topic--back to Keokuk.
In the nineteenth century, as river commerce grew increasingly important, Keokuk was a bustling community. During high water the Mississippi was passable by boats with a shallow draft all the way to Keokuk, and so Keokuk became the head of navigation on the river. Boats would have to unload their cargos in Keokuk to be transported around the rapids or transported overland. I'm not sure exactly when, but I believe some time after the Civil War, the U.S. goverment built a canal at Keokuk to circumvent the rapids. Willard Galzier noted the canal in 1887 in his account of a canoe trip down the river. In 1913 a lock was constructed that permitted much larger boats to bypass the rapids. (The present lock was constructed in 1957). The S.S. Thorpe was the first large steamboat to use this new lock and make the complete passage from St. Louis to St. Paul. Sold and renamed, the S.S. Thorpe ended its career as the George M. Verity and now sits on the Keokuk river bank as a museum. That's Isaac at the controls of the George M. in the photo to the right. Funds to keep the George M. Verity open are tight. It really is a unique piece of history, so if you're passing through Keokuk be sure to visit and drop off a few bucks to help out.
Keokuk is showing its age. I was across the river in Nauvoo one day and speaking to a middle aged woman. When Keokuk entered our conversation, she bemoaned it's ugly and dirty appearance. She said it was depressing to visit there. I was very taken aback as I had really enjoyed my visits to Keokuk. Rather than ugly and depressing, I had found it comfortable and friendly. Yes, it's showing some wear for the years and it's poorer than some of its neighboors up and down the river, but that fate awaits us all. One of the simplests but most meaningful kindnesses I've experienced on the river happened in Keokuk. I had driven all day and was not only tired but beset upon by a nasty headache. After checking into a motel, Isaac and I walked across the street to a small convenience store where I picked up a bottle of asprin. The clerk could see we were travelers and asked if I needed those asprin right away. I said I sure did and she told me to put the bottle back. She then got me a drink of water and took a handfull of asprin out of her purse. She gave me two, and another half dozen should I need them later. I know it was a simple gesture, but I doubt the same would have happened to me in New Orleans or St. Louis. I'm reminded of a quote from Steinbeck, "If you're in trouble, or hurt or need--go to the poor people. They're the only ones that'll help--the only ones." I don't want to get melodramatic here over a couple of asprin and some kind words, but I was disturbed at the Nauvoo woman's remarks. We are too quick in this society to discard and discredit anything old and well worn unless we can move it to the status of quaint, and antique. Keokuk is neither quaint or antique, just well worn and holding its own. In the photo above you see members of the high school senoir class painting a merchant's store window for homecoming. This to me is indication of a healthy community, and it's hardly depressing. The students paint most of the shop windows along mainstreet--an activity you'd be unlikely to see in New Orleans, St. Louis or Nauvoo for that matter.
Keokuk is a split level city. Along the river banks is a narrow strip of land that ends abruptly at the base of steep bluffs. This strip of land ranges in width from only a few yards to a few hundred yards. The train tracks run along this strip, and along the tracks there's some sizeable industry. The city is further split as it sits atop bluffs of different heights. Keokuk's main business center rests on the lower bluff which is at the south end of town. North of the business center the bluff rises sharply doubling its height. Atop the high bluff are residential streets and an expansive city park. Keokuk is old enough to have an historic district which is located at the south end of the higher bluff. Here you can see some older and well preserved homes. The city park is well placed to provide the best view of the river valley below and it's a splendid view indeed. The north bluff is up river from the dam which is one of the wider dams on the Mississippi. The dam pool is in fact a large and beautiful lake that slowly narrows into the river valley in the distance. The view from Keokuk's city park belongs in the top ten list of best vistas overlooking the Mississippi.
I was amused in Keokuk to see the cycle of fad and fashion turn full circle on itself. I don't know what's happening in other locations in the country, but here in the midwest we are experiencing a resurgence of the drive-in diner. Not a drive through where you grab your food and keep driving, but a fast food shop where you drive up to a stall and the attendant brings your food to the car on a tray. In Keokuk Isaac and I ate at an A&W drive-in that never managed to go out of fashion in the first place--fifty years old and with all of its original fixtures, it's the model of contemporary fast food technology second time around. Keokuk is not a very fashionable place, but I suspect that doesn't distress its citizens much; which inclines me to like them all the more.