Keokuk, IA

Keokuk, Iowa
City
Main Street (January 2009)
Location within Lee County and Iowa
Coordinates: 40°24′9″N 91°23′40″W / 40.40250°N 91.39444°W / 40.40250; -91.39444Coordinates: 40°24′9″N 91°23′40″W / 40.40250°N 91.39444°W / 40.40250; -91.39444
Country	United States
State	Iowa
County	Lee
Incorporated	December 13, 1848
Area
• Total	10.58 sq mi (27.41 km2)
• Land	9.13 sq mi (23.65 km2)
• Water	1.45 sq mi (3.76 km2)
Elevation	571 ft (174 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	10,780
• Estimate (2016)	10,431
• Density	1,000/sq mi (390/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	52632
Area code	319
FIPS code	19-40845
GNIS feature ID	0458054
Website	City of Keokuk, Iowa

Keokuk /ˈkiːəkʌk/ is a city and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States, along with Fort Madison. It is also the most southerly city in Iowa. The population was 10,780 at the 2010 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is thought to be buried in Rand Park. It is located in the extreme southeast corner of Iowa where the Des Moines River meets with the Mississippi. It is located 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 and Clark County, Missouri.

Situated between the Des Moines and Mississippi rivers, the area that became Keokuk had access to a large trading area and was an ideal location for settlers. In 1820, the US Army prohibited soldiers stationed along the Mississippi River from having wives who were Native American. Dr. Samuel C. Muir, a surgeon stationed at Fort Edwards (near present-day Warsaw, Illinois), instead resigned his commission rather than leave his Indian wife and crossed the river to resettle. He built a log cabin for them at the bottom of the bluff, and became the area’s first white settler.