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Wright County

City of Rowan

City Web Site

Rowan, situated in the eastern part of Wright County, began with the settlement at Horse Grove, so named because an old horse was found roaming in the woods. The earliest settlers were Robert Rowen, Edwin Ballou, and Horace Riley.

The first post office in Wright County was established here. The post office was called Fryeburg because Mr. Hurd, the postmaster, came from a town in Maine by that name.

With the building of the the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railroad, the town of Rowan was platted in 1884-1885. In 1902 the Great Western extended it's line from Hampton to Clarion and it was the area at the crossing of the railroads that became the present town of Rowan, named for Robert Rowen.

The town of Rowan is located on highway 3 in north central Iowa, just 90 miles north of Des Moines. It boasts of a population of 218 wonderful and very friendly people.

All are invited to help us celebrate our towns 100th aniversary! The celebration begins the evening of August 30th with opening ceremonies at the school house. The schedule of events is tentative, check back often for updates.

Hello, I'm a science teacher in Waterloo, Iowa. I just got wind of some news that may interest some folks in Wright County. [I discovered your website when looking for someone that I could write to in your area.] There will be a celestial occurrence that will occur four times in Wright County this week. The Space Station and Shuttle will cross directly in front of the sun four times. Twice on Wednesday along a line that extends across the countryside near Rowan and twice on Friday nearer to Goldfield. If interested see this post I made about it here: http://forums.iowageocachers.org/viewtopic.php?t=1159&sid=1ecc0caffda5c43959d10c0253ddd739 It is a must that no one looks directly at the sun without -proper- eye protection however! Have a good day, Tom Wagner

Submitted by: Tom Wagner on 7/10/2006 11:02:09 PM