Tabor is a city in Fremont County and extends northward into Mills County in the U.S. state of

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

. The population was 928 at the time of the 2020 census.

Geography

Tabor is located at (40.896605, -95.672368). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the city has a total area of , all land.

History

In 1852 the city of Tabor was founded by "a few families from

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, 31 miles southwest of Cleveland. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is the birthplace of th ...

, almost all of them

Congregationalists Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs i ...

," "generous people, early settlers from New England and Ohio who had brought with them Puritan ideas of religion, and Sumner’s and Phillips’ and

Garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mili ...

’s ideas of freedom." Among them were the Christian clergymen George Gaston, Samuel A. Adams, and Rev.

John Todd John Todd or Tod may refer to: Clergy *John Todd (abolitionist) (1818–1894), preacher and 'conductor' on the Underground Railroad * John Todd (author) (1800–1873), American minister and author * John Todd (bishop), Anglican bishop in the early ...

, and their families. They chose to settle in what is now Tabor in order to found a Christian college, which eventually became Tabor College. The founders were impressed with this high location and mutually selected the name "Tabor" after the Biblical name of

Mount Tabor Mount Tabor ( he, הר תבור) (Har Tavor) is located in Lower Galilee, Israel, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, west of the Sea of Galilee. In the Hebrew Bible (Joshua, Judges), Mount Tabor is the site of the Battle of Mount Tabo ...

, a mountain near

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

, the town of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

' childhood. The town was the home of many abolitionists; Rev. Todd, co-founder of Tabor College, was a "conductor" on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

. The residents of Tabor held monthly

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

prayer meetings, and helped

runaway slaves In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe people who fled slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Such people are also called free ...

whenever they could. During the

Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...

period (1854–1860), Tabor was on a route established to enable anti-slavery partisans to reach Kansas without needing to go through the

slave state In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...

of Missouri. A shipment of 200 Sharps rifles, sent from Boston for use in Kansas by free-state partisans, were stored there (in John Todd's barn). In 1857–1858

John Brown spent the winter in Tabor, assembling and training men for his

raid on Harpers Ferry Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...

. Tabor College was located in the city from 1853 until 1927, when it closed for financial reasons. The college's buildings housed German

Prisoners of War A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The Tabor & Northern Railway, a 9-mile line connecting with the

Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary co ...

at Malvern, operated from 1889 to 1934. It was operated by the College.

Demographics

2010 census

At the 2010

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, there were 1,040 people, 418 households and 272 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was . There were 451 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 98.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 0.7%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.3% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 0.5% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 2.0% of the population. There were 418 households, of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.9% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15% 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 2.95. The median age was 44.3 years. 23.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.3% were from 25 to 44; 27.1% were from 45 to 64; and 22.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.3% male and 51.7% female.

2000 census

At the 2000 census, there were 993 people, 387 households and 267 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 416 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 99.60%

, 0.10% Asian, and 0.30% from two or more races. 0.81% of the population was

or Latino of any race. There were 387 households, of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were

living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.2% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.91. 24.1% of the population were under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 22.6% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 25.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.1 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways ...

was $36,750 and the median family income was $50,000. Males had a median income of $31,042 and females $23,068The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

was $16,979. About 3.7% of families and 7.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Fremont–Mills Community School District Fremont–Mills Community School District is a rural public school district headquartered in Tabor, Iowa, serving sections of Fremont and Mills counties. Communities in its service area are Tabor, Randolph, and Thurman. It took portions ...

operates public schools.

National Historic Places and attractions

* Todd House (1853), home of abolitionist John Todd and

station, now a museum * Hunter School (1901), one room school house * Tabor Antislavery Historic District (1853), series of abolitionist related buildings and places

Cultural references

The town of Gilead, in

Marilynne Robinson Marilynne Summers Robinson (born November 26, 1943) is an American novelist and essayist. Across her writing career, Robinson has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005, National Humanities Medal in 2012, and t ...

's ''

Gilead Gilead or Gilad (; he, גִּלְעָד ''Gīləʿāḏ'', ar, جلعاد, Ǧalʻād, Jalaad) is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan.''Easton's Bible Dictionary'Galeed''/ref> ...

'', is a fictionalised version of Tabor.

References

External links

City websiteTabor Historical Society website
{{authority control Cities in Iowa Cities in Fremont County, Iowa Cities in Mills County, Iowa Populated places on the Underground Railroad Underground Railroad in Iowa 1852 establishments in Iowa Populated places established in 1852 John Brown sites