Rivers, people meet up in Lee County

By B.J. Smith

A young Samuel Langhorne Clemens apprenticed in a Lee County print shop before he became Mark Twain. The legendary innovator Howard Hughes spent his boyhood here along the Mississippi River. Escaped slaves had their first taste of freedom here, and Mormon pioneers launched their westward journey in scenic Montrose.

Some of Iowa’s first recognized settlements – including Fort Madison and old Fort Des Moines – were established in Lee County, which you’ll find in the far southeast corner of the state, as close as you can get in Iowa to both Illinois and Missouri. It’s where the Des Moines River flows into the Mississippi, which widens here to form 30,000-acre Lake Cooper. The lake is known nationwide for its boating and world-class fishing.

Lee County is also corn country, with a grand summer tradition of county fairs, community festivals and an annual rodeo that is consistently voted one of the best. Lee County corn helps feed a hungry planet, is made into ecology-friendly ethanol for vehicles, sugars and starch for international food manufacturers, and is used in pharmaceutical supplements, as well.

Keokuk and Fort Madison are the largest communities in the county, a commercial crossroads where people and products move by river, rail, road and air. Manufacturers and logistics companies use the Mississippi to transport huge loads of products to international destinations, and passenger and freight trains crisscross the county. Amtrak passengers board in Fort Madison for journeys east and west, and the newly finished Avenue of the Saints bisects Lee County running north and south. Look for many historic and scenic communities to develop special attractions as destinations for visitors coming from any direction. America’s Great River Road runs through here, too.

Source: Lee County Economic Development Group