Iowaville was a small town on the lowland near the northeast bank of the Des Moines River, near the line between

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...

and

Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...

counties, and between present-day Eldon and Selma, Iowa, United States. It was established about 1838 near the site of earlier trading posts. Iowaville is now farm land with almost nothing to show the town location, but it is an important Iowa archaeological site. The area around the town site had long been used by the Ioway Indians. The residents of Iowaville were frequent visitors to

Fort Madison 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 ...

, 1808–1813, the first U.S. Army post in the Upper Mississippi. Iowaville was attacked in the 1810s or early 1820s, perhaps by the Sauk under leadership of Pashepaho and

Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...

,''Andreas Atlas of Iowa'', 1875 "Davis Co. Early History" but there is also evidence it was attacked by the Dakota or may have been abandoned because of smallpox. Keokuk made his home near there for a time. Trader and settler John Jordan operated near here from 1837 and platted the town in 1838. Iowaville was badly flooded during the Flood of 1851. The town was prosperous for a time, with a peak population of perhaps 200, but it declined rapidly after the railroad came to nearby Eldon. There was a postoffice established in Iowaville on January 11, 1840, that closed on September 26, 1870.

spent his last few years living in the area.''Andreas Atlas of Iowa'', 1875 "Davis Co. Early History" and "Van Buren Co. Early History"

References

{{authority control Geography of Van Buren County, Iowa Ghost towns in Iowa Former populated places in Iowa 1838 establishments in Iowa Territory