Iowa From the Air Lansing & Waukon birdseye photos |
Snuggling amid the Allamakee county bluffs that help make this region "Little Switzerland," Lansing is one of Iowa's most picturesque little towns. It is widely known among sportsmen for the excellent fishing and hunting in the vicinity, but it is equally noted for its scenic interest. From its hills that rise out of the Mississippi one can see over into Wisconsin and up into Minnesota. The river has played an important part in Lansing's 101-year-old history. Once lumber mills here ran 24 hours a day, and in 1875 the population was 2,280. Eventually the mills closed and population declined to 1,200. Now it again is growing, thanks to fisheries, a state hatchery, and button and toy factories. Last fall the town completed a $3,000,000 power plant. Population today is estimated at 1,650.
It was just 100 years ago--in July, 1849--that the first settler stopped in what is now Waukon. He was George C. Shattuck, who built the first log cabin here, and alter deeded 40 acres of his land to the community on condition that Waukon be named the Allamakee county sear. Today, the town, which was named for John Waukon, or Wawkon, a Winnebago chief, has a population of about 3,300. It is known among sportsmen for the unusually good trout fishing in neighboring streams. it is also the center of an important beef cattle area.
In this new aerial photograph, which looks east, the high school and grade school buildings are in the lower left-hand corner. The courthouse is a large white building in square six blocks east of the high school. Just at the edge of town in the upper right, and within the city limits, is a golf course.
~both photos are from the Des Moines
Register, Des Moines, IA, 1949
~contributed by Errin Wilker
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