Melbourne, Iowa

For other uses, see Melbourne (disambiguation).

Melbourne, Iowa
—  City  —
Sign for Melbourne, Iowa along Highway 330
Location of Melbourne, Iowa
Coordinates: 41°56′30″N 93°6′9″W / 41.94167°N 93.1025°W / 41.94167; -93.1025Coordinates: 41°56′30″N 93°6′9″W / 41.94167°N 93.1025°W / 41.94167; -93.1025
Country	United States
State	Iowa
County	Marshall
Established	1883
Area
– Total	0.6 sq mi (1.5 km2)
– Land	0.6 sq mi (1.5 km2)
– Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	1,043 ft (318 m)
Population (2000)
– Total	794
– Density	1,402.4/sq mi (541.5/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
– Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	50162
Area code(s)	641
FIPS code	19-50880
GNIS feature ID	0458951

Melbourne is a city in Marshall County, Iowa, United States. The population was 794 at the 2000 census.

History

Melbourne Post Office

The town of Melbourne was plotted February 23, 1882, by Milwaukee Land Company, in section 6 of Logan Township and was incorporated December 30, 1895. Melbourne was the only town in Marshall County to be served continuously by 2 major railroads. Melbourne's growth was rapid and made possible by three railroads and the population increased to 423 by 1910. Melbourne suffered the worst disaster in the town's history when a fire consumed the whole business district in 1903 and then in 1981 the southern end of town was destroyed by a tornado.

The mayor of Melbourne from 1984 until 1998 was Bill Crews, an openly gay man who came out of the closet in 1993. At the time, Melbourne was believed to be the smallest municipality in the United States to have an openly gay mayor.

Geography

Melbourne is located at 41°56′30″N 93°6′9″W / 41.94167°N 93.1025°W / 41.94167; -93.1025 (41.941788, -93.102403)^[1].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²), all of it land.

Water tower in Melbourne

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 794 people, 318 households, and 218 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,402.4 people per square mile (537.8/km²). There were 332 housing units at an average density of 586.4 per square mile (224.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.50% White, 0.13% African American, and 0.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.38% of the population.

There were 318 households out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.2% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $47,019, and the median income for a family was $51,250. Males had a median income of $36,528 versus $24,667 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,641. About 3.1% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 2.4% of those age 65 or over.

References

1. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
2. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.