Historical Markers and War Memorials in Lee County, Iowa
Fort Madison and Keokuk are both the county seat for Lee County
Adjacent to Lee County, Iowa
Des Moines County(3) ► Henry County(13) ► Van Buren County(3) ► Hancock County, Illinois(30) ► Henderson County, Illinois(4) ► Clark County, Missouri(12) ►
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Near this location a government trading post, or factory, was established in 1808 for the use of Sac, Fox, Ioway and Des Moines River Sioux. Initially a temporary facility, christened Fort Madison, in the spring of 1809 and garrisoned by a . . . — — Map (db m229237) HM WM
Presented to the City of Fort Madison by the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway April 1960
Placed on display through stock purchases in the Fort Madison Short Line Railroad Built - January 1944
Retired October 1955 — — Map (db m229274) HM
These brass "James" Cannon, named for their designer, were manufactured only in 1858 and 1859.
They were the first U.S. Army cannon provided with rifling along the bore, a feature added to improve the accuracy of their projectile trajectory. . . . — — Map (db m229272) WM
General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Union
Army said of Wittenmyer, “No soldier on the firing line
gave more heroic service than she did.”
Sarah Ann Turner (Annie) was born in Sandy Springs,
Ohio to a family that greatly valued . . . — — Map (db m229472) HM
Daniel Burnham and John Root started their partnership in
July 1873 in Chicago Illinois. They met while working at
the architectural firm of Carter, Drake & Wright. Root had
the artistic genius and Burnham had the business sense and
charisma. . . . — — Map (db m229994) HM
Former slave and celebrated abolitionist, Charlotta Pyles
was an outspoken critic of slavery. She was born a slave in
Kentucky in 1804. Her father was a mixture of German and
African American while her mother was a full-blooded
Seminole Indian. . . . — — Map (db m229420) HM
Chief Keokuk was born in 1780 near the
present location of Rock Island, Illinois. His
tribe, the Sauk Indians, joined with the
remnants of the Mesquakie tribe (or Fox
Indians) to form a community they called
Saukenuk not far from where the . . . — — Map (db m229928) HM
Conrad Nagel was born in Keokuk, Iowa on
March 16, 1897. The son of Frank, a
musician, and Frances, a talented singer, it
is no surprise Nagel grew up to be a famous
silent and sound movie star.
The Nagel family was well known in
Keokuk as . . . — — Map (db m229473) HM
Site of Army Hospital Apt. 17, 1862-Oct. 1, 1865. Erected in memory of the soldiers who died in the Old General Hospital at Keokuk and buried in the National Cemetery. — — Map (db m178523) HM WM
Elsa Maxwell was born May 24, 1883 in
Keokuk, Iowa – it is said she was born in a
theater during the opera Mignon. She was
raised in San Francisco, California where
her father sold insurance and did freelance
writing for the New York Dramatic . . . — — Map (db m229501) HM
Jews have been part of the social, economic and cultural life of Iowa since the early 19th century. It was not until 1855 that the Jewish population in Keokuk grew large enough to establish a religious community, Congregation B’nai Israel ( . . . — — Map (db m27084) HM
George M. Verity Has been designated a National Historic Landmark This site possesses National significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America. — — Map (db m178292) HM
James B. Howell was born near
Morristown, NJ, July 4, 1816. When he
was three years old, his family moved to a
farm near Newark, OH, where his father,
Elias Howell, entered into politics.
Howell attended Miami University in
Oxford, OH, . . . — — Map (db m229528) HM
The Illinois, Iowa, Missouri area centered in Keokuk owes much to Hugh Lincoln Cooper engineer, backed by area businessmen, he built, in three years, 1910-1913, the dam and powerhouse now operated by Union Electric Co.
Cooper's . . . — — Map (db m178946) HM
Hugh Cooper (1865-1935) was born in
Sheldon, Minnesota. He built his first bridge
when he was 16. The 40 foot long bridge
went across a creek and stayed in service 50
years.
After he graduated from high school,
Cooper became an apprentice at . . . — — Map (db m229929) HM
Industrialist and philanthropist, John Carl Hubinger was
born in New Orleans in 1851, the first of eight children.
The family moved north when J.C. was four, living in
Kentucky and Indiana before moving to Keokuk. Here,
Hubinger's father opened . . . — — Map (db m229424) HM
Born in Winterset, Iowa on May 26, 1907, John Wayne’s
parents originally named him Marion Robert Morrison,
which was changed to Marion Mitchell Morison several
years later when they wanted to name a younger brother
Robert. The Morison family . . . — — Map (db m229527) HM
William Logan was born September 11,
1848 in Pennsylvania. In 1852, his family
traveled by steamboat from Pittsburgh, PA
to Quincy, IL then settled on a farm east of
Nauvoo, IL.
At the age of 21, he moved to northeastern
Missouri where he . . . — — Map (db m229417) HM
The city of Keokuk has long been associated with thriving commerce and transportation even before it was incorporated in 1847. The location of the Des Moines Rapids in the Mississippi River made it necessary for steamboats to unload passengers and . . . — — Map (db m178276) HM
In memory of the 21 persons
who perished in an explosion
of The National Guard Armory
on this site
on Thanksgiving eve Nov. 24, 1965,
while attending a square dance of The
Swing-Ezy Square Dance Club. — — Map (db m229301) HM
This Monument is erected by popular Subscription
In the Memory of The SAC Chief Keokuk
for whom this city was named. In 1883, his remains together
with the marble slab on the reverse side of this die were
brought from Franklin County, . . . — — Map (db m186354) HM
Civil War Keokuk Keokuk, Iowa, was a staging and training ground for seven Union regiments. The first soldiers mustered in at Camp Ellsworth in May 1861. Later, camps Rankin, Halleck, and Lincoln prepared Iowa troops for deployment south. Its . . . — — Map (db m179354) HM
Keokuk Union Depot
1891
Burnham and Root Architects, Chicago has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of Interior — — Map (db m191186) HM
I have heard with sorrow that you have determined to leave our village and cross the Mississippi merely because you have been told that the Americans were coming in this direction. Would you leave our village, desert our homes and fly before an . . . — — Map (db m185389) HM
Keokuk, Iowa, is named in honor of Chief Keokuk, a Sac and Fox chief who is buried there. The city is located on the west side of the Mississippi River, about 12 miles southwest of Nauvoo. On August 12, 1841, Chief Keokuk, and about one hundred . . . — — Map (db m179356) HM
Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) walked the streets of
Keokuk in the years 1855 and 1856. He worked for his
brother, Orion, who owned a printing business "The Ben
Franklin Book and Job Office” located on the third story
of the Ogden City Book . . . — — Map (db m178943) HM
Mary Huiskamp was born August 3rd, 1926
in Keokuk, Iowa. Discovering the delights
of the library, by the age of 7 she knew she
wanted to be a writer.
Huiskamp grew up in a big brick house,
built by her great grandfather, on a hill
above the . . . — — Map (db m229422) HM
MENC: The National Association for Music Education was founded on this corner in the Westminster Presbyterian Church on April 12, 1907, during a meeting of music supervisors from fourteen states. The meeting was organized by Philip Cady Hayden, . . . — — Map (db m55413) HM
Samuel Clemens was born November 30,
1835 in Florida, Missouri. When he was
four, his family moved to Hannibal where
he spent his childhood.
Clemens moved to Keokuk in the mid1850s to work in his brother Orion’s print
shop at 2nd and Main . . . — — Map (db m229993) HM
Samuel Miller moved to Keokuk in 1850 and practiced law here until he was appointed Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1862. He served until his death, 28 years later, and was the first high court appointee from Iowa and from . . . — — Map (db m224589) HM
Samuel Ryan Curtis Born 1803
West Point 1826-1830 Colonel Mexican War Mayor of Keokuk Member of Congress Col. 2nd IA Inf & Brig. Genl. 1861 Maj. Genl. 1862-1866 Died 1866 Erected by the City of Keokuk to her soldiers 1861-1865 Co. A. 1st IA . . . — — Map (db m232906) WM
Felix and Jean Hughes moved with their
three super achieving children to Keokuk in
1879. Felix served as Mayor, President of
the Keokuk and Western Railroad and was
a Supreme Court Justice. The three
children were born in Lancaster, . . . — — Map (db m230552) HM
One of six immigrant brothers born in Poland, Lipman Younker began exploring career possibilities in Keokuk in 1854
while brothers Samuel and Marcus were attempting to establish themselves
in New York City.
In 1856 the three Younkers opened a . . . — — Map (db m229436) HM
To the memory of the pioneers who entered Iowa by Keokuk the Gate City and either settling in our state or passing farther west travelled over the well-worn road known as the Mormon Trail. With this tablet the Daughters of the American Revolution . . . — — Map (db m185392) HM
In Memoriam U.S.S. Maine Destroyed in Havana Harbor February 15th, 1898 This tablet is cast from metal recovered from the USS Maine — — Map (db m229415) WM
A public water supply system was first discussed in the 1850's when Keokuk's population was increasing dramatically, but with the financial panic of 1857 no action was taken. Most home owners had a cistern, and huge cisterns in the business . . . — — Map (db m178277) HM
Starting as early as the 1840's, proposals were advanced for building a wing dam near Keokuk that would focus the power of the Mississippi's current. However, no viable plan was formed until the development of alternating current electricity made . . . — — Map (db m179112) HM
Once a place where Native American Indians hunted and fished, this peninsular part of Iowa is located where the Des Moines River flows into the Mississippi River.
Under French and Spanish rule for almost 150 nears, Southeast Iowa was included in . . . — — Map (db m179974) HM
William Logan was born December 30,
1934, in Keokuk, the son of William Archie
Logan and Carla Huiskamp Logan, and the
great grandson of Judge William
Logan. He attended Keokuk public schools
and graduated from Keokuk Senior High in
1952. In . . . — — Map (db m229419) HM
Early settlers of Lee County believe that the explorers Marquette and Joliet landed at this spot in 1673. From here they made their only overland exploration on the west bank of the Mississippi, finding villages of the Illini tribe. Other French . . . — — Map (db m179445) HM
During the period of 1839-1846, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as Mormons) settled here in Lee County, Iowa and in Nauvoo, Illinois, on the opposite (eastern) side of the Mississippi River. Nauvoo was the . . . — — Map (db m179453) HM
This barracks well marks the first Fort Desmoines and was used by a detachment of Dragoons stationed here Sept 25-1834 to June 18-1837 — — Map (db m139802) HM
