- Norwalk, Iowa
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Norwalk, Iowa — City — Location of Norwalk, Iowa
Coordinates: 41°29′0″N 93°40′43″W / 41.483333°N 93.67861°WCoordinates: 41°29′0″N 93°40′43″W / 41.483333°N 93.67861°W Country 
United StatesState 
IowaCounties Polk, Warren Area – Total 6.8 sq mi (17.6 km2) – Land 6.6 sq mi (17.0 km2) – Water 0.2 sq mi (0.6 km2) Elevation 945 ft (288 m) Population (2000) – Total 6,884 – Density 1,049.2/sq mi (405.1/km2) Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6) – Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5) ZIP code 50211 Area code(s) 515 FIPS code 19-57675 GNIS feature ID 0459658 Website City of Norwalk Norwalk is a city in Polk and Warren counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 6,884 at the 2000 census. The city is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located just south of the Des Moines International Airport.
Contents
History
The first log cabin to be built in the area that was to become known as Norwalk was built in 1852 by Samuel Snyder. The first name for the area was Pyra. In 1856 the area was platted by George M. Swan, who became the second postmaster, and changed the name to Norwalk, as he was from Norwalk, Ohio.[1]
Norwalk was incorporated in 1900 with a land area of 1.0 square mile (2.6 km2) and elected Adam Stiffer the first mayor.[1] Another source has the date of incorporation as June 15, 1901.[2]
Norwalk holds the unofficial record for the largest amount of rainfall in a 24-hour period for any town in Iowa, with more than 9 inches falling June 9–10, 2011.[3]
Norwalk's darker history includes two mass killings. Mrs. G.R. McAnich killed five of her seven children and then turned the gun on herself in 1937. In 1993, Rick Forsyth murdered Jolene Forsyth, three of her children and two children she was baby-sitting at her home.[4]
Geography
Norwalk's longitude and latitude coordinates in decimal form are 41.483403, -93.678515. [5]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.8 square miles (18 km2), of which, 6.6 square miles (17 km2) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km2) of it (3.24%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 6,884 people, 2,344 households, and 1,903 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,049.2 people per square mile (405.2/km²). There were 2,382 housing units at an average density of 363.0 per square mile (140.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.75% White, 0.23% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from other races, and 0.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.34% of the population.
There were 2,344 households out of which 49.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.3% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.8% were non-families. 16.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88 and the average family size was 3.22.
In the city the population was spread out with 33.0% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 7.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 91.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $58,933, and the median income for a family was $64,653. Males had a median income of $37,571 versus $30,455 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,895. About 1.8% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 1.8% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
- Joel Hanrahan, pitcher in Major League Baseball
- Jason Momoa, played Ronon Dex in Stargate Atlantis, Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones, and Conan the Barbarian
- Brandon Routh, played Superman in Superman Returns
- Diana Reed, appeared in the broadway musical Sweet Charity, former Miss Iowa & University of Iowa Golden Girl
Trivia
The Minneapolis-based band We Are the Willows has a song on their first full-length album A Collection Of Sounds And Something Like The Plague titled "Norwalk, Iowa".
References
- ^ a b "City History". City of Norwalk. http://www.ci.norwalk.ia.us/AboutNorwalk/CityHistory.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-012.
- ^ "Norwalk, Iowa". City-Data. http://www.city-data.com/city/Norwalk-Iowa.html. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
- ^ Finney, Daniel (Jun. 10, 2011). "Record rainfall swamps Des Moines area". Des Moines Reigster. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110611/NEWS/106110322/Record-rainfall-swamps-Des-Moines-area?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews.
- ^ "The worst mass killings in Iowa history". Quad-Cities Online. March 25, 2008. http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=379922. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
- ^ "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.
External links
- Norwalk Community Web Site
- City of Norwalk
- Norwalk Chamber of Commerce
- Norwalk Community School District
- City-Data Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Norwalk
Municipalities and communities of Polk County, Iowa Cities Alleman | Altoona | Ankeny | Bondurant | Carlisle‡ | Clive‡ | Des Moines‡ | Elkhart | Granger‡ | Grimes‡ | Johnston | Mitchellville‡ | Norwalk‡ | Pleasant Hill | Polk City | Runnells | Sheldahl‡ | Urbandale‡ | West Des Moines‡ | Windsor Heights
CDP Other
communitiesFootnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
Municipalities and communities of Warren County, Iowa Cities Ackworth | Bevington‡ | Carlisle‡ | Cumming | Des Moines‡ | Hartford | Indianola | Lacona | Martensdale | Milo | New Virginia | Norwalk‡ | Sandyville | Spring Hill | St. Marys | West Des Moines‡
Unincorporated
communitiesBeech | Churchville | Liberty Center | Prole
Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
Categories:- Populated places in Polk County, Iowa
- Populated places in Warren County, Iowa
- Cities in Iowa
- Des Moines metropolitan area
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