Marquette, Iowa

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Marquette is a city in Clayton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 421 at the 2000 census. The city, which is located on the Mississippi River, is named after Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette, who along with Louis Joliet discovered the Mississippi River just southeast of the city on June 17, 1673.

Marquette is located directly across from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and the two cities are connected by U.S. Highway 18, which crosses the river on the Marquette-Joliet Bridge. Effigy Mounds National Monument and the Yellow River State Forest are a few miles to the north. The city of McGregor, Iowa is located just to the south. Marquette itself was originally incorporated as North McGregor in 1874, and it served as a railroad terminus for its southern neighbor. Along with McGregor, the city became a major hub on the railroad, as grain from throughout Iowa and Minnesota was sent through the city en route to Lake Michigan. Initially trains had to be ferried across the river between Marquette and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, in order to continue their journey, but this system came to an end when Prairie du Chien businessman John Lawler had a permanent pontoon bridge built to connect the two cities' rail lines. Marquette subsequently became home to a major rail yard, which even as late as 1920 was the busiest in Iowa, employing 400 people. Not too long afterwards, the railroad's significance declined, the last passenger train stopped in Marquette in 1960, and the pontoon bridge was disassembled in 1961. Today the city is a tourist destination, most notable for the being home to an Isle of Capri riverboat casino.

[edit] Geography

Marquette is located at 43°2′34″N, 91°11′3″W (43.042838, -91.184177)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.3 km² (1.3 mi²). 3.2 km² (1.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (4.69%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 421 people, 194 households, and 108 families residing in the city. The population density was 133.2/km² (345.2/mi²). There were 222 housing units at an average density of 70.3/km² (182.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.57% White, 0.48% African American and 0.95% Native American. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.71% of the population.

There were 194 households out of which 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.3% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.3% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.0 males.