Iowaville

Overview

A town on top of a village

Iowaville lay on the lowland north of the Des Moines River, where Van Buren County meets Davis County, between today's Eldon and Selma. Long before the town, the Ioway had a large village here. A 2026 talk dated it 1765 to 1824, and a 2017 talk put it at about 1,000 people at its height. It was attacked in the 1810s or early 1820s, perhaps by Sauk warriors under Pashepaho and Black Hawk, though Wikipedia notes a Dakota attack or smallpox as other explanations.

In the fall of 1837 the trader James Jordan and two partners bought the Sauk and Fox's remaining time on the land for $3,000, and in the spring of 1838 Iowaville was laid out. Black Hawk, the Sauk leader, lived his last years nearby and died on October 3, 1838. He was buried on Jordan's farm; nine months later his remains were stolen. The town got a post office in 1840 and a school in 1843, and by one account it never had more than 200 people. The flood of 1851 turned the river three miles wide. When the railroad came to nearby Eldon, Iowaville faded, and its post office closed in 1870.

In 1907 The Annals of Iowa reported "not a vestige" of the town: no foundations, only a cornfield. In 1970 deep plowing brought up Ioway artifacts, and in 2010 volunteers dug the site and found about 5,000 more. In January 2026 the archaeologist Cindy Peterson called it eligible to be a National Historic Landmark. It is still a private farm field.

Timeline

Ioway village, river town, cornfield

1. c. 1765The Ioway build a village on the Des Moines River. Archaeologist Cindy Peterson's 2026 talk dated the village 1765 to 1824; a 2017 talk put its height at about 1,000 people and named it as the home of the Ioway leader Mahaska (White Cloud).
2. 1810s–1820sThe village is attacked, perhaps by Sauk warriors under Pashepaho and Black Hawk. Wikipedia notes that a Dakota attack or smallpox may instead explain its end.
3. Fall 1837James Jordan, William Phelps and John Tolman buy the Sauk and Fox's remaining time on the land for $3,000. Jordan opens the first trading post. (Wikipedia calls him John Jordan.)
4. Spring 1838The Indians leave and Iowaville is laid out. Black Hawk and a few others stay. The American Fur Company's steamboat Pavilion comes up the river the same year.
5. Oct 3, 1838Black Hawk dies after two weeks of illness. He is buried on James Jordan's farm on the north bank of the Des Moines River.
6. Jul 1839Black Hawk's remains are stolen by James Turner. By the main account they are later held by a historical society in Burlington, whose building burns in 1855; another has them buried in a Burlington potter's field.
7. Jan 11, 1840The Iowaville post office opens. The Annals of Iowa account names William Avery as the first postmaster.
8. 1843A schoolhouse is built. No church building ever is.
9. 1851The great flood covers the prairie around Iowaville; the river is about three miles wide.
10. 1855–1856Iowaville's best years, by the 1907 account. Then the "D V Railroad" is built and the town starts to fade.
11. 1870Eldon grows up on the railroad and Iowaville disappears. Its post office closes on September 26, 1870.
12. Apr 1907S. B. Evans reports in The Annals of Iowa that "not a vestige" is left: the townsite is a cornfield. Wikipedia's citation dates the article 1908.
13. 1970Deep plowing turns up Ioway artifacts. Dean Straffan of Parsons College surveys the field for two summers, and collectors carry off thousands of pieces.
14. 2010About 100 volunteers excavate for four weeks on a $25,000 State Historical Society grant and find about 5,000 artifacts.
15. Jan 18, 2026At Lacey-Keosauqua State Park, archaeologist Cindy Peterson calls the site eligible to be a National Historic Landmark. The landowner, the report says, refused to sell.

What's left

A field, a cemetery and a memorial

Nothing of the town stands. The Annals of Iowa account describes no remains and no foundation walls, and Wikipedia calls the site "farmland with almost nothing to show the town location." What lies under the field is another matter: the 2010 dig, guided by geophysical survey, found copper kettles, stone tools and a storage pit holding gun barrels, knives and a bear-tooth necklace, and the archaeologist said in 2026, "There are so many features left here."

Iowaville Cemetery still carries the town's name. It holds a memorial to Black Hawk, a stone-edged plot with a bronze plaque and a wooden cross, photographed in 2007 about a mile northeast of the mapped townsite. Sources disagree on what it marks. Wikipedia's Black Hawk article says he was buried on James Jordan's farm and that it is unknown whether any of his remains are in the cemetery; the January 2026 report calls the cemetery his burial place before his remains were stolen. We haven't confirmed visiting rules for the cemetery.

The 1965 Eldon topographic sheet, in the historic maps below, shows the county line meeting the river at the townsite, a road along the north bank with a few buildings, and the railroad and highway crossing the upper right corner beside the edge of a cemetery label. Today's map shows Hawk Drive on the same line along the river.

• Farm field over the townsite
• Ioway village site (archaeological, eligible for National Historic Landmark status)
• Iowaville Cemetery and the Black Hawk memorial

Historic maps

Iowaville on USGS maps, 1954–1981

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19541:250,00019651:24,00019811:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Ottumwa is the closest city, about 32 minutes away by US 34 and IA 16. From Des Moines the routed drive takes IA 163 most of the way and joins the Ottumwa route at exit 199. Both end on Hawk Drive, a road along the river about 130 meters from the mapped townsite. The field is private; this is a look from the road. The routes are computed from OpenStreetMap and haven't been driven by us.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Iowaville in photos

The Black Hawk memorial in Iowaville Cemetery: a stone-edged plot with a bronze plaque and a wooden cross, November 2007

Visitor reports

Been to Iowaville?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Iowaville

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Iowa index.

• Dudley26.0 mi NW · Wapello
• Indianapolis38.2 mi N · Mahaska
• Hinkletown45.0 mi N · Iowa
• New York56.6 mi W · Wayne
• Red Rock61.7 mi NW · Marion
• Midway63.9 mi NE · Johnson
• Big Spring71.9 mi W · Wayne
• Ivanhoe78.7 mi NE · Linn

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Wikipedia, "Iowaville, Iowa", retrieved October 2026: location, the Ioway village and the attack, Keokuk and Black Hawk nearby, John Jordan and the 1838 plat, the 1851 flood, perhaps 200 people, decline after the railroad reached Eldon, the post office dates, farmland and archaeological site, coordinates.
2. S. B. Evans, "The Blotting Out of an Iowa Town," The Annals of Iowa 8(1), April 1907, pp. 57–59 (dated 1908 in Wikipedia's citation), as transcribed by IAGenWeb Davis County: the 1837 purchase for $3,000, the 1838 layout, Jordan's trading post, the first postmaster, the steamboat Pavilion, the 1843 school, the 1851 flood, the "DV Railroad," Eldon in 1870, never more than 200 people, no remains and the cornfield.
3. Wikipedia, "Black Hawk (Sauk leader)", retrieved October 2026: his death on October 3, 1838, burial on James Jordan's farm, the theft of his remains in July 1839, the 1855 fire, and the Iowaville Cemetery marker.
4. Jeff Morrison, "The story of Iowaville," Between Two Rivers, January 21, 2026: the January 18, 2026 talk at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park, the 1765–1824 dates, the 1970 plowing and survey, collecting without the landowner's permission, the 2010 dig and its finds, the landmark eligibility, the landowner's refusal to sell, and the cemetery.
5. Pella Area Community and Chamber Alliance, "Archaeology at Iowaville", event of July 8, 2017: about 1,000 people at the village's height, Mahaska (White Cloud), the field still farmed.
6. Wikimedia Commons, "BlackHawkGraveIowaville.JPG": the memorial photographed on November 5, 2007, with object coordinates about 0.9 mile northeast of the townsite point.
7. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

• The Black Hawk memorial in Iowaville Cemetery: a stone-edged plot with a bronze plaque and a wooden cross, November 2007: BillHart93, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Centerville 1954, 1:250,000; Eldon 1965, 1:24,000; Centerville 1981, 1:100,000.