Centerville, Iowa

Centerville, Iowa
City
Location of Centerville, Iowa
Country	United States
State	Iowa
County	Appanoose
Area
• Total	4.6 sq mi (11.8 km2)
• Land	4.5 sq mi (11.7 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	1,007 ft (307 m)
Population  (2000)
• Total	5,924
• Density	1,310.5/sq mi (506.0/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	52544
Area code	641
FIPS code	19-12315
GNIS feature ID	0455310

Centerville is a city in Appanoose County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,924 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Appanoose CountyTemplate:GR. After the turn of the 20th century Centerville had a booming coal mining industry that attracted many European immigrants. The town today remains the home of many Swedish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Croatian-Americans and others descended from immigrants who worked in the mines.

City of Centerville Township is a separate entity but shares the same borders as the city.

Geography

Centerville is located at 40°43′47″N 92°52′19″W (40.729836, -92.872012)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.6 square miles (11.8 km²), of which, 4.5 square miles (11.7 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.88%) is water.

History

Founded in 1846 by Jonathon Stratton under the name of Chaldea, the town was planned around a unique two-block long city square. The name was later changed to Centerville and incorporated in 1855.

The town experienced its peak population in the early 1900s as the popularity of coal peaked. After that point, as coal usage dwindled, the coal industry that had been the town's life blood collapsed. In the 1950s and 1960s a civic movement to promote new industries began. This effort culminated in the building of Rathbun Dam, near the town of Rathbun, Iowa, forming Rathbun Lake, known as "Iowa's Ocean", that was dedicated on July 31, 1971 by President Richard M. Nixon.

Today the town is supported by several small industrial plants, mostly in the area of plastic products. In June of 2006 the Centerville Daily Iowegian reported the largest employer in town, a Rubbermaid plant, would shut down in September 2006 displacing 500 workers. In 2007, the former Rubbermaid building was purchased by Lee Container of Homerville, GA, and is planned to be re-opened in 2008. The town (and county) is also served by several other manufacturing operations, including Curwood, a Bemis Company, a major supplier of flexible packaging and pressure sensitive materials used by leading food, consumer products, manufacturing, and other companies worldwide.

As county seat, Centerville had a thriving retail sector, serving people from smaller towns and farms in the area as well as local residents. Many shops were located around the Courthouse Square Historic District, which has hundreds of parking spaces between the shops' sidewalks and the courthouse lawn--in effect, six-lane wide streeting around the Appanoose County Courthouse provides four lanes of public parking. In the latter decades of the 20th century, Centerville, like many other small American towns, experienced a change in its retail economy as many long-established locally owned shops closed, due in large part to loss of business to large nationally owned retailers. Many of the former stores have been replaced by specialty gift shops and antique stores, catering to tourists as well as locals.

In 1999, the Lake Center Mall was destroyed by an act of arson. The entire site sat unoccupied until a cineplex and a Pizza Ranch was built there in the early 2000's.

In 1984 The Appanoose County Community Railroad was formed out of discarded pieces of the Wabash and Rock Island lines to maintain a rail link to the outside world. Forming the railroad helped to bring Rubbermaid to the town.

From the 1990s to the present day, the town has focused on quality-of-life issues, in an attempt to attract and keep young families in the area. A new emphasis on the arts, culture and local history has emerged, culminating in the Townscape project to beautify the Courthouse Square Historic District.

Notable natives

Centerville is the birthplace and childhood home of the African American Metropolitan Opera baritone Simon Estes, who is a 1956 graduate of Centerville High School. It is also the home of former Governor of Iowa Francis M. Drake, who established Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Centerville is also the birthplace of several members of the Spooner and Payton Families that were well known in the stock theater, including Corse Payton, Claude Payton, Franklin Edward Spooner, Mary Gibbs Spooner, Edna May Spooner and Cecil Spooner.

In 2006, Danny Wolf, the lead vocalist of Small Towns Burn A Little Slower, moved to Centerville with his wife, Kelli. Kelli holds a teaching position at Howar Junior High.

Events

Pancake Day

Since 1949 the city has conducted an annual Pancake Day festival. For the first five years the celebration was held the first Thursday in October until 1954 when it was moved to the last Thursday in September. In 1965 the celebration was moved to the last Saturday in September. Pancake Day is a time for local businesses and organizations to cook up pancakes which they provide for free to their customers to show thanks for their continued patronage. The event that is held in the Courthouse Square Historic District features a morning kiddie parade, a larger afternoon parade with a unique double loop parade route, a beauty queen contest and free entertainment.

Pancake Day has been attended by many well-known celebrities including every Governor of Iowa since 1949 along with Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver, J. C. Penney, Philip W. Pillsbury, former Governor of New York, W. Averell Harriman, Muriel Humphrey, Rocky Marciano and Centerville Native Simon Estes. Entertainers have included Barbara Mandrell and Minnie Pearl.

Croatian Fest

Croatian Fest has been held in Centerville on the last Saturday in July since 1987 to celebrate the areas Croatian Heritage. It is celebrated with colorful ethnic costumes, music, dancing and entertainment, as well as home-cooked ethnic food. The event includes an afternoon Polka Mass celebrated at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church.

Croatian Fest was held in the Courthouse Square Historic District through 2004 and is now held at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

Education

The school district serving Centerville is the K-12 Centerville Community School District. It consists of Centerville High School, Howar Junior High, Lakeview Middle School and Central, Lincoln and Garfield Grade Schools all located in Centerville and the Cincinnati Grade School and Mystic Grade School located in the communities of Cincinnati and Mystic.

The mascot name for Centerville High School is the "Big Reds" and "Redettes" with the school colors being Scarlet and Black.

The first Centerville High School graduate--and the one and only graduate from the Class of 1876--was Jennie Drake, the daughter of former Governor of Iowa Francis M. Drake. The first African-American graduate was Joseph Edwin Herriford, a graduate from the Class of 1885.

Centerville is the home of the Centerville Campus of Indian Hills Community College, a two year community college, that was established in 1930 as Centerville Junior College. It later merged with the area community college of Indian Hills Community College, which has its main campus located in Ottumwa, Iowa.

Media

Newspapers

Ad Express Centerville Daily Iowegian

AM Radio Stations

KCOG 1400 The True Oldies Channel

FM Radio Stations

KMGO 98.7 Iowa's # 1 Country

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 5,924 people, 2,583 households, and 1,516 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,310.5 people per square mile (506.0/km²). There were 2,935 housing units at an average density of 649.3/sq mi (250.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.35% White, 0.81% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.44% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.52% of the population.

There were 2,583 households out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.3% were non-families. 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 22.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 82.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,498, and the median income for a family was $36,855. Males had a median income of $28,333 versus $21,207 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,574. About 11.3% of families and 18.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.2% of those under age 18 and 14.7% of those age 65 or over.

External links

• Centerville Tourism Website