- Creston, Iowa
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Creston, Iowa — City — Location of Creston, Iowa
Coordinates: 41°3′33″N 94°21′52″W / 41.05917°N 94.36444°WCoordinates: 41°3′33″N 94°21′52″W / 41.05917°N 94.36444°W Country 
United StatesState 
IowaCounty Union Area - Total 5.1 sq mi (13.3 km2) - Land 5.1 sq mi (13.2 km2) - Water 0.1 sq mi (0.1 km2) Elevation 1,312 ft (400 m) Population (2000) - Total 7,597 - Density 1,496.2/sq mi (577.7/km2) Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6) - Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5) ZIP code 50801 Area code(s) 641 FIPS code 19-17265 GNIS feature ID 0455716 Creston is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Iowa, United States.[1] The population was 7,597 at the 2000 census. McKinley Lake lies within a large, multi-purpose municipal park within the city limits, and three additional recreational lakes are located within seven miles of Creston: Green Valley State Park, Summit Lake, Twelve Mile Lake and Three Mile Recreation Area.
Creston has a long railroad history. Today, Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Creston, operating its California Zephyr daily in both directions between Chicago, Illinois, and Emeryville, California, across the bay from San Francisco.[2] Creston is also a stop on the BNSF Railway. Rail crews based in Creston work from Creston to Galesburg, Illinois and Lincoln, Nebraska. The former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad railroad depot, a 2-story, yellow-brick, red tile-roofed French Provincial structure, now serves as Creston's City Hall.[3]
Contents
Geography
Creston's longitude and latitude coordinates
in decimal form are 41.059039, -94.364378. [4]According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.1 square miles (13.3 km2), of which, 5.1 square miles (13.2 km2) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.1 km2) of it (0.97%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 7,597 people, 3,346 households, and 1,974 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,496.2 people per square mile (577.4/km2). There were 3,598 housing units at an average density of 708.6 per square mile (273.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 98.13% White, 0.34% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.38% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.26% of the population.
There were 3,346 households out of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.5% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.6% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 86.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,831, and the median income for a family was $41,003. Males had a median income of $27,580 versus $20,172 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,411. About 7.0% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.6% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.
History
Creston originally settled in 1868 as a survey camp for the workers with the Burlington and Missouri Railroad. The campsite was on the crest on the railroad line between the Missouri and Mississippi, hence the name "Creston."
Creston was chosen as the division point for the railroad (now the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe, which built machine shops, roundhouse and a construction camp to the new town. The town was incorporated in 1871.
A new railroad station was constructed in 1899 and the three-story structure served passengers for 69 years. The depot was renovated in 1978 to serve as a City Municipal Building. The old machine shop building was destroyed by a tornado in 1946. The remainder of the roundhouse burned down in 1981.
Education
Creston is served by the Creston Community School District.
High School- Creston High School
Middle School- Creston Middle School
Elementary School- Creston Elementary SchoolPrivate Schools in Creston include:
- St. Malachy School (K-8)
- Mayflower Heritage Christian Academy (K-8)
Higher Education
Notable people
- Julee Cruise, actress and singer
- Walter Cunningham (born 1932) astronaut on the Apollo 7 mission [6]
- Sherry Edmundson Fry, sculptor and co-founder of the American Army Camouflage Corps
- Jerry Harrington, Major League Baseball player
- Jerome C. Hunsaker (1886–1984), designer of flying boats and airships
- James M. McCoy, Chief Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force.
- Edward E. Miller, U.S. Representative from Illinois
- Frank Phillips, founder of the Phillips Petroleum Company
- John JR Robinson (born 1954) One of the most recorded drummers in history [7]
- Marcia Wallace, actress
References
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Route_C&pagename=am/Layout&cid=1237608341980
- ^ http://www.crestoniowa.gov/
- ^ "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.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/cunningham-w.html "Walter Cunningham NASA Astronaut(former)"]. NASA. http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/cunningham-w.html. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
- ^ "John JR Robinson". DRUMMERWORLD. http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/John_Robinson.html. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
External links
- Creston City Website
- Union County Website
- Creston Community School District
- City Data Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Creston
Municipalities and communities of Union County, Iowa County seat: Creston Cities 
Unincorporated
communityFootnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
Categories:- Cities in Iowa
- Populated places in Union County, Iowa
- County seats in Iowa
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