Mount Pleasant, Iowa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mount Pleasant is a city in Henry County, Iowa, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,751. It is the county seat of Henry County^GR6.

Mary Eunice Harlan, the daughter of Iowa senator James Harlan and wife of Abraham Lincoln's son Robert Todd Lincoln, was from Mount Pleasant. James Van Allen, considered America's foremost space scientist, was born in Mount Pleasant and graduated valedictorian of his Mount Pleasant Public High School class. Current Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack lived in Mount Pleasant before being elected Governor, and served as Mayor of the city after the assassination of Ed King during a city council meeting.

The city is the home of Iowa Wesleyan College. The P.E.O. Sisterhood was founded in Mount Pleasant by seven Iowa Wesleyan students.

Mount Pleasant is also home to the Old Thresher's Reunion, which attracts over 100,000 people over Labor Day Weekend.

A meat processing plant operated by West Liberty Foods is located in Mount Pleasant.

1 Geography
2 Transportation
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Mount Pleasant is located at 40°58′1″N, 91°33′4″W (40.966977, -91.551203)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.0 km² (7.7 mi²). 19.9 km² (7.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.26%) is water.

[edit] Transportation

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Mount Pleasant, operating its California Zephyr daily in both directions between Chicago, Illinois, and Emeryville, California, across the bay from San Francisco.

A municipal airport is located on the southeastern city limits of town. U.S. Highway 34 bypasses the town to the north, while U.S. Highway 218/Iowa Highway 27 bypass the town to the east. The former routes in town are now designated as business routes.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 8,751 people, 3,119 households, and 1,940 families residing in the city. The population density was 439.4/km² (1,137.3/mi²). There were 3,355 housing units at an average density of 168.4/km² (436.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.46% White, 3.19% African American, 0.32% Native American, 3.53% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.73% from other races, and 1.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.79% of the population.

There were 3,119 households out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.5% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 110.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 113.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,558, and the median income for a family was $46,063. Males had a median income of $31,524 versus $22,628 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,824. About 8.3% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.