McGregor Iowa

Above is a panoramic view of the confluence between the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers. The image is a link; click on it to load a much larger copy that you can scroll through.

Just the Facts

NOTE: The data that follows derives primarily from the 1990 U.S. census and as such is a decade out of date.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.

• Population
  • McGregor: 871 total, 52.2% female, 47.8% male.
  • United States: 248,709,873 total, 51.3% female, 48.7% male.
  • St. Louis: 2,444,099 total, 52% female, 48% male.
• Age Groups
  • McGregor: 19% under 18 years old, 25% over 64 years old, 56% in between.
  • United States: 25.5% under 18 years old, 12.5% over 64 years old, 62% in between.
  • St. Louis: 26% under 18 years old, 12.8% over 64 years old, 61.2% in between.
• Race
  • McGregor: 100% human, 99.5% white, two persons native american and two persons asian.
  • United States: 100% human, 80% white, 12% black, 8% hispanic.
  • St. Louis: 100% human, 81% white, 17% black, 1% asian, 1% hispanic.
• Education
  • McGregor: 70% high school or better, 10.5% college degree or better.
  • United States: 75% high school or better, 20% college degree or better.
  • St. Louis: 76% high school or better, 21% college degree or better.
• Unemployment
  • McGregor: 4.9% unemployment (43.8% over 16 listed as "not in the work force").
  • United States: 3% unemployment (34.7% over 16 listed as "not in the work force").
  • St. Louis: 3% unemployment (33.4% over 16 listed as "not in the work force").
• Income
  • McGregor: $9,238 per capita income, 13% below poverty level.
  • United States: $14,420 per capita income, 13% below poverty level.
  • St. Louis: $14,917 per capita income, 10% below poverty level.
• Climate
  • McGregor:
  • United States:
  • St. Louis:

The Mississippi River Parkway or Great River Road tries to follow the river along both banks. Given the terrain it succeeds more or less. There are however gaps where the parkway must leave the river and head inland in order to proceed efficiently to the next major destination. In north east Iowa the towns of Clayton, McGregor, Marquette and Lansing are just not big enough nor connected by any road running north and south so as to be direct links on The Great River Road. To reach these towns on the Iowa side you have to drive around the back of the bluffs, often as much as twenty miles away from the river, and then follow smaller roads down into the valleys and eventually into town. The casual traveler of the Parkway, with a quick glance at a road map, is going to see Wisconsin highway 35 on the east bank of the river as the route of choice, and so drive right on by these small Iowa towns. Marquette, just a mile or so to the north of McGregor, benefits from the highway 18 bridge that crosses the river to Prairie du Chien. The bridge and the Miss Marquette casino may induce some tourists to cross over for a look. But McGregor is hidden from view, tucked away in a valley between bluffs and down river along a small two lane highway that the road map indicates dead-ends when it reaches town. All this adds up to McGregor being off the beaten path. A State Park on the bluffs above town is probably the biggest inducement for visitors to find the place. What a shame.

I teach, among other things, computer programming and I cherish my image as a chiphead (ok nerd), but under the facade, I'm really a hopeless romantic. McGregor is pure romance; it's the Brigadoon of the Mississippi Valley. Every time I visit McGregor and walk down the main street I half expect to run into Cyd Charisse waltzing out of a shop door, basket on her arm. McGregor is a place you can fantasize about. When the pressures of work and big city life, air pollution and noise pollution, general ugliness and deadlines are all weighing me down I escape in my daydreams to McGregor Iowa and to a healthier more civilized way of life (and Cyd Charisse). Like Jay Lerner's mythical Brigadoon, McGregor is lost in time.

Tourism is a major component of the economy here in the Upper Mississippi Valley. No city or town is imune. It's a double sided coin this money from tourism, and that's because of the crude character of American tourism in general. Here amidst the bluffs of the Mississippi, a natural area of idyllic beauty, the American tourist arrives in town and heads straight for the souvenir shop to buy bennie babies. American tourists are responsible for the creation of that shameful American institution known pejoratively as the Tourist Trap. Wall South Dakota, Cherokee North Carolina and Hannibal Missouri are all classic examples. McGregor, thank heaven, has escaped this fate thus far; although it does have potential and I'm sure there are members of the town who's fondest dream would see McGregor converted into a cash generating tourist trap. McGregor does have a restored Victorian bed and breakfast, and the main street is peppered with antique shops, but the town as a whole is still genuine. How can I tell? There's no McDonalds in McGregor. If you find yourself hungry in McGregor you'll have to eat real food and you'll have to get out of your car to do it.

McGregor has a baroque entrance into town that is just a delight. If you approach McGregor via the road traveling south from Marquette you won't be able to see the town off in the distance. There are no businesses visible, those that typically ring the outskirts of a town, to suggests you're getting close. One instant you're driving along a small two lane road with the river on your left and steep bluffs on the right and the next instant, as you turn right around the side of a bluff, you're in town. The effect is completely charming and just a little magical. You know someone deliberately hid this town away. The back way into town, although not as dramatic, has its own charm. The bluffs over the river are nearly 600 feet high. This area is part of the glacial driftless region. In other words an area where the ice age glaciers left no drift because they missed the region entirely. The glaciers passed around this area and so they did not grind down the hills and fill in the valleys -- this is rugged country. McGregor is nestled in a valley between bluffs and to reach it from behind you must first climb the bluffs. The road down to town is steep and winding; possibly even a little frightening for someone unaccustomed to such inclines. As the road reaches the valley floor a few homes start to show up along the roadside but you still can't see the town. The town is really walled in by bluffs on all three sides and to get there you must snake down between one of the side bluffs and the bluff that closes off the town rear. Sitting right smack up against the rear bluff and neatly supplying closure for the end of the town is St. Mary's church. And so the town stretches from St. Mary's to the river.

McGregor is steeped in significant history. Across the river and just a little south is the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers. It was here in 1673 that Marquette and Joliet first lay sight of the Mississippi. It was their exploration of the Mississippi that opened the valley for colonization. Pikes Peek State Park sits atop the bluffs on the south of town. The panoramic photo above was taken from the Pike's Peek overlook. Many think it is the single best view of the Mississippi river. Zebulon Pike of Pike's Peek Colorado fame thought so when he passed through the area and lent his name to the overlook. Isaac and I have often grappled with this most serious question: Finding the premier, single best overlook of the Mississippi River has occupied a great deal of our time and effort. Without a doubt the Pikes Peak overlook is in the finalist category. The problem is there are so many other worthy contenders. There's the view from Barn Bluff in Red Wing. Winona has a great overlook as does Trempealeau. The vista from Granddad Bluff in LaCrosse is the highest. The view from Mt. Hosmer in Lansing is fabulous. All through the upper river valley there are spectacular vistas to be seen from atop the bluffs. And we mustn't forget the southern river. The view from the Missouri bluffs at Trail of Tears State Park rivals anything the upper river can offer, and then there's the incomparable view from Natachez. Pressed on the issue, I'm going to do my best to squirm out of it and say something noncommittal like, "it's just not possible to choose between such equally splendid views." However, since we're here now in McGregor, I'll let it slip, the view from Pike's Peak is number one.

The river in McGregor is the Mississippi at it's very best. Located in McGregor is an office and visitor's center for The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. McGregor is smack dab in the middle of the refuge. Founded in 1924, the refuge is 261 miles long extending from the confluence of the Mississippi and Chippewa rivers to Cordova Illinois. The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is the most fantastic natural feature of the river. Depending on your feelings about our natural environment and the need to preserve it, the refuge is also the single most important feature of the river. The chart above is the Corps' navigation chart for the Mississippi at McGregor. Look at all the islands and sloughs, backwaters and back channels and lakes and wetlands. The refuge is teaming with life. It is an extremely rich and wonderfully diverse habitat that supports over a hundred species of fish, constitutes the largest and most important migration route for birds in North America, and this while serving as part of our nation's most critical transportation route for grain that helps feed the world. Take one last look at the panorama above. If ever God would grant a special blessing to a town like McGregor and hide it away from the troubles of the rest of the world, this is clearly the place she'd pick.