Burlington (Iowa)
Des Moines County
19-09550
Burlington is a city and county seat of Des Moines County in the southeast of the U.S. state of Iowa on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The population was in 2010 at 25,663.
Geography and transport
Burlington is located at 40 ° 48'29 " north latitude and 91 ° 06'57 " west longitude. The city covers an area of 39.5 km ² to 37.5 km ² land and 2.0 km ² water surface spread.
Burlington is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, which forms the border to Illinois. In Burlington, there are two bridges over the Mississippi River:
- On the Great River Bridge crosses U.S. Highway 34,
- On the slightly downstream Burlington Rail Bridge crosses next to freight trains of the BNSF Railway also connects the California Zephyr express train called by Amtrak, the Chicago to San Francisco, the Mississippi River.
Northwest of the city crossing the running east -west U.S. Highway 34 and extending in a north-south direction along the Mississippi River U.S. Highway 61
To the west there are up in Iowa's capital Des Moines 278 km to the north and later towards East there are upriver to Davenport 126 km, east- north-easterly direction there are 366 kilometers to Chicago and to the south there are downstream to St. Louis 350 km.
The regional airport of Southeast Iowa ( IATA code: BRL ) is located on the southern outskirts of Burlington. Great Lakes Airlines operates several daily flights to St. Louis and Kansas City.
The biggest airport in the whole area is 116 km from Quad City International Airport in Moline, one of the Quad Cities.
Public transport is taken from the town's business Burlinton Urban Service ( BUS). Greyhound Lines and Trailways Transportation System to hold several intercity bus lines.
History
Originally, the area was inhabited by Native Americans of the Sauk and Fox. This called the Flint Hills today called area Shoquoquon ( Shok -ko - kon).
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent two expeditions to explore the West. While Lewis and Clark followed the course of the Missouri River, Zebulon Pike penetrated to the upper Mississippi River. 1805 Pike landed at altitudes in the range of present-day Burlington and hoisted the flag of the United States for the first time on the territory of today's Iowa and proposed the construction of a fort in front at this point. But the proposal was never addressed in the army leadership.
Fur traders of the American Fur Company established a trading post in 1829. The Euro -American settlement of the region began in 1833 after the Black Hawk Purchase, than Samuel White and David Tothero came across the river. A. T. Andreas wrote in 1975 that White built a hut, where later the Front Street along resulted in today's downtown. Tothero moved a little further to inland. A little later, William R. Ross crossed the river and established a general store. Ross should survey the land for further settlement and John Gray, the first country buyers got the right to choose the name of the newly created site. Gray decided to Burlington, the name of his home city of Burlington in Vermont.
In 1837, Burlington was briefly the capital of the Wisconsin Territory. After 1838 the Iowa Territory was established, Burlington became the first capital of the new territory. The government was in the building of Old Zion Methodist Church in Iowa the first housed. The building no longer exists in its place now is a commemorative plaque.
Hawkeye State, the nickname of Iowa, has its roots in Burlington. The publisher James G. Edwards changed at the suggestion of Judge David Rorer the name of his newspaper, The Iowa Patriot in The Hawk - Eye and Iowa Patriot. But it is not certain whether in naming the shape Hawkeye from The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper or the famous Indian chief Black Hawk was the inspiration.
Burlington was in the time of steam navigation on the Mississippi River a busy river port and an important station on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB & Q). The CB & Q, which existed from 1848 to 1970 became the Burlington Northern Railroad (BN ), which was renamed to the BNSF Railway in 1997. Even today, Burlington is an important railway junction, where the running along the Mississippi River north-south route intersects with a main east -west link.
Probably the most striking impression on the skyline of the city form the steeples. The highest part of the St. John 's Cathedral, a cathedral, which was built on a hill and overlooks the city. The tower overlooks the roof of the church by 30 m and is a popular photo opportunity. The only higher buildings is the Great River Bridge, whose central pillar rises 113 meters above the Mississippi River.
Demographic data
In the census of 2000 a population of 26 839 was determined. These distributed to 11,102 households in 7,105 families. The population density was 737.6 / km ². There were 11,985 buildings, which corresponds to a site density of 329.4 / km ².
The population consisted in 2000 of 91.6 % White, 5.0 % African American, 0.33 % Native Americans, 0.66 % Asian, and 0.94% other. 1.43 % said to be descended from at least two of these groups. 2.06% of the population were Hispanics who belonged to the various of the aforementioned groups.
24.5% were under the age of 18, 8.9 % from 18 to 24, 26.7 % 25-44, 22.7 % from 45 to 64 and 17.2 % 65 and older. The average age was 38 years. For every 100 females were statistically 90.9 men in the over 18 -year-olds 87.2.
The average income per household was $ 33,770, the average family income is $ 40,912. Men's income averaged $ 33,238, and for women about $ 23,003. The per capita income amounted to $ 19,450. Around 10.0 % of families and 12.6 % of the total population were below the poverty line income.
Economy
Burlington was early an industrial center and transportation hub. Industries such as farming equipment Case Corporation, the technology company General Electric, the automotive Champion Spark Plugs and the food company Lance Private Brands, as well as the railroad company BNSF Railway are among the largest employers in the area.
The largest employer is the Great River Medical Center. The largest retail companies in the town is Wal- Mart
Famous people
- Tony Baker, played in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams and San Diego Chargers, took part in the Pro Bowl in 1968
- Wallace Hume Carothers, inventor of nylon
- James Clarke, the Governor of Iowa Territory
- John M. Corse, General of the Union Army during the American Civil War
- Augustus C. Dodge, U.S. Senator from Iowa
- Henry Dodge U.S. Senator from Wisconsin and Governor of Wisconsin Territory
- William Frawley, actor
- James W. Grimes, U.S. Senator
- Frank Hatton, politician, postmaster general of the United States
- Bart Howard, composer and author of " Fly Me to the Moon"
- James McNeal Kelly, NASA astronaut
- Aldo Leopold, forest scientist, biologist and conservationist
- A. Strong Leopold, forest scientist, biologist and conservationist
- John Mickey, 17th Governor of Nebraska
- Kay Orr first Governor of Nebraska
- Robert Noyce, co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, is considered one of the developers of Microchip
- Kurt Warner, football player, twice awarded the MVP
Twin Cities
Twin city of Burlington is