Wever, Iowa

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Wever, Iowa
Wever iowa.jpg
Building in Wever
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Wever
Location in Iowa
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Red pog.svg
Wever
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 40°42′38″N91°13′52″W / 40.71056°N 91.23111°W / 40.71056; -91.23111
Country United States
State Iowa
County Lee
Area
[1]
  Total1.48 sq mi (3.82 km2)
  Land1.48 sq mi (3.82 km2)
  Water0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation
561 ft (171 m)
Population
 (2020)
  Total101
  Density68.43/sq mi (26.42/km2)
Time zone UTC-6 (Central (CST))
  Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes
52658
FIPS code 19-84855
GNIS feature ID462957 [2]

Wever is an unincorporated community in northeastern Lee County, in the southeastern corner of Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 101. [3]

Contents

Geography

Wever lies along U.S. Route 61, approximately eight miles northeast of the city of Fort Madison, one of two county seats in Lee County. It is just South of the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant and the Skunk River, which empties further east into the Mississippi River. [4] Its elevation is 561 feet (171 m). [2]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note
2020 101
U.S. Decennial Census [5]

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, [6] there were 101 people, 47 households, and 23 families residing in the community. The population density was 68.4 inhabitants per square mile (26.4/km2). There were 55 housing units at an average density of 37.3 per square mile (14.4/km2). The racial makeup of the community was 92.1% White, 1.0% Black or African American, 0.0% Native American, 0.0% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.0% from other races and 6.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino persons of any race comprised 5.0% of the population.

Of the 47 households, 21.3% of which had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.3% were married couples living together, 4.3% were cohabitating couples, 10.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present and 46.8% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 51.1% of all households were non-families. 48.9% of all households were made up of individuals, 17.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years old or older.

The median age in the community was 50.3 years. 17.8% of the residents were under the age of 20; 0.0% were between the ages of 20 and 24; 19.8% were from 25 and 44; 37.6% were from 45 and 64; and 24.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the community was 53.5% male and 46.5% female.

History

Wever was a station on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. [7]

Although Wever is unincorporated, it has a post office, which opened on May 1, 1837. This post office has a complicated name history: it opened as 'Sand Ridge', changed to 'Green Bay' on September 17, 1849, to 'Jollyville' on January 28, 1859, and finally to Wever on October 17, 1870. [8] Its ZIP code is 52658. [9]

Wever was built around a station of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad within Green Bay Township, and superseded the nearby town of Jollyville. It had 300 inhabitants when mentioned in the 1879 History of Lee County and was enjoying "good trade" because of the surrounding very fertile country. [10] Wever's population was 66 in 1902, [11] and had increased to 212 by 1925. [12]

The community is a part of the Fort Madison-Keokuk μSA.

20th century

In 1971, Mr. James Cook submitted the following statement about the fertilizer plant which Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) was operating in Green Bay Bottoms to produce anhydrous ammonia and diammonium phosphate fertilizers, to a US Senate committee: "ARCO Chemical Co., Division of Atlantic Richfield Co., Fort Madison, Iowa, May 20, 1971. To the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee of Public Works, the U.S. Senate, Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee of Public Works:

ARCO Chemical Company, a division of Atlantic Richfield Company, operates and maintains a fertilizer manufacturing complex adjacent to the Mississippi River in an area known as Green Bay bottoms. The capital cost of the complex was in excess of $60,000,000 and is entirely protected from the Mississippi River by levees. The plant significantly contributes to the economy of Fort Madison, Burlington, and surrounding communities. This complex of ARCO Chemical Company does employ approximately 1,000 people who are engaged in the manufacture, distribution and marketing of fertilizers, almost all of which are manufactured at this one facility. Any flooding of the Mississippi River at this point would have a detrimental effect to the company, an economic impact on the aforementioned communities and the earnings of a significant number of employees. Therefore, ARCO Chemical Company supports the continuing study by the Corps of Engineers in regard to the raising of the levees along the Mississippi River. G. T. Stocking, Vice President" [13]

In 1976, the EPA reported that the ARCO Chemical Co. fertilizer plant in Fort Madison, IA, had a wet-process phosphoric acid unit, which had come on stream in 1968, had an annual capacity of 225,000 short tons, expressed as P2O5 [14]

21st century

In 2012, plans were announced to build a $1.4 billion fertilizer plant in Wever. The plant will use natural gas and is built by Orascom. Groundbreaking occurred in November 2012. [15] The WSJ wrote that US economic rebound and cheap energy from the shale-oil boom was luring investment from companies such as Egypt's Orascom. [16]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee County, Iowa</span> County in Iowa, United States

Lee County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,555. The county seats are Fort Madison and Keokuk. Lee County is part of the Fort Madison–Keokuk, IA–IL–MO Micropolitan Statistical Area. It was established in 1836.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Madison, Iowa</span> City in Iowa, United States

Fort Madison is a city and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States along with Keokuk. Of Iowa's 99 counties, Lee County is the only one with two county seats. The population was 10,270 at the time of the 2020 census. Located along the Mississippi River in the state's southeast corner, it lies between small bluffs along one of the widest portions of the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keokuk, Iowa</span> City in Iowa, United States

Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is recognized with a statue in Rand Park. It is in the extreme southeast corner of Iowa, where the Des Moines River meets the Mississippi. It is at the junction of U.S. Routes 61, 136 and 218. Just across the rivers are the towns of Hamilton and Warsaw, Illinois, and Alexandria, Missouri. Keokuk, along with the city of Fort Madison, is a principal city of the Fort Madison-Keokuk micropolitan area, which includes all of Lee County, Iowa, Hancock County, Illinois and Clark County, Missouri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muscatine, Iowa</span> City in Iowa

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augusta, Iowa</span> Census-designated place in Iowa, United States

Augusta is an unincorporated community and census-designated place situated on the Skunk River in Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. It is located 10 miles southwest of Burlington and nine miles north of Fort Madison, off U.S. Route 61 and Iowa Highway 16. The community is part of the Burlington, IA–IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denmark, Iowa</span> Census-designated place in Iowa, United States

Denmark is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in northeastern Lee County, Iowa, United States. It lies along Iowa Highway 16, north of the city of Fort Madison, the county seat of Lee County. Its elevation is 722 feet (220 m) above sea level. Although Denmark is unincorporated, it has a post office with the ZIP code of 52624, that opened on April 7, 1846. The town also has a branch of Farmers Savings Bank that opened in 1935. The community is part of the Fort Madison–Keokuk, IA-MO Micropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, its population was 425.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argyle, Iowa</span> Unincorporated community in Iowa, United States

Argyle is an unincorporated community in southwestern Lee County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 91.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilot Grove, Iowa</span> Unincorporated community in Iowa, United States

Pilot Grove is an unincorporated community in northern Lee County, Iowa, United States. It lies along local roads northwest of the city of Fort Madison, the county seat of Lee County. Its elevation is 643 feet (196 m).

The Fort Madison–Keokuk, IA-IL-MO Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, locally known as the "Tri-State" area, was an area consisting of three counties – one in southeast Iowa, one in northeast Missouri, and one in west central Illinois, anchored by the cities of Fort Madison, Iowa and Keokuk, Iowa. As of the 2010 census, the μSA had a population of 62,105. An estimate by the Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2012, placed the population at 61,477, a decrease of 1.01%. When the 2023 definitions were released this area was dissolved with Lee County, Iowa being included as part of the Burlington–Fort Madison, IA–IL Combined Statistical Area.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Boston, Iowa</span> Unincorporated community in Iowa, United States

New Boston is an unincorporated community in central Lee County, Iowa, United States. It lies in the southeast corner of Iowa, along U.S. Highway 218 and southwest of the city of Fort Madison, the county seat of Lee County. New Boston is located nearby to the unincorporated communities of Argyle, Iowa and Charleston, Iowa. The community is part of the Fort Madison–Keokuk, IA-MO Micropolitan Statistical Area. There are no commercial establishments in New Boston, although this is the home of Liberty Baptist Church.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Neal fertilizer plant explosion</span> 1994 industrial disaster at Port Neal Complex, Iowa

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References

  1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Wever, Iowa". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. "2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  4. Rand McNally. The Road Atlas '08. Chicago: Rand McNally, 2008, p. 39.
  5. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  6. "2020 Census". United States Census Bureau.
  7. The History of Lee County, Iowa. Western Historical Company. 1879. p.  679.
  8. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Wever Post Office
  9. Zip Code Lookup
  10. The History of Lee County, Iowa. Western Historical Company. 1879. pp.  679.
  11. Cram's Modern Atlas: The New Unrivaled New Census Edition. J. R. Gray & Company. 1902. pp. 203–207.
  12. Premier Atlas of the World: Containing Maps of All Countries of the World, with the Most Recent Boundary Decisions, and Maps of All the States, Territories, and Possessions of the United States with Population Figures from the Latest Official Census Reports, Also Data of Interest Concerning International and Domestic Political Questions. Rand McNally & Company. 1925. p. 190.
  13. Appropriations, United States Congress Senate Committee on (1971). Public Works for Water and Power Development and Atomic Energy Commission Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1972: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, Ninety-second Congress, First Session. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  14. Control of Fluoride Emissions from Existing Phosphate Fertilizer Plants : Draft Guideline Document, page 47, Table 3-3, available at https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/9101PNA6.txt?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=1976%20Thru%201980&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5CZYFILES%5CINDEX%20DATA%5C76THRU80%5CTXT%5C00000033%5C9101PNA6.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=47
  15. Rod Swoboda (November 28, 2012). "Iowa Fertilizer Company Begins Construction on New Plant". FarmProgress. Penton. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  16. William Boston (December 17, 2013). "BASF Steps Up Investment in U.S. ·". Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones.