Mount Vernon

History

Mount Vernon was laid out in 1847, but its origins date back to at least 1838, when it was known as Pinhook, a rest stop on Military Road, which ran between Dubuque, on the Mississippi River, and Iowa City. It was renamed Mount Vernon in 1847, after the estate of George Washington. The Iowa Conference (Methodist) Male and Female Seminary (which later became Cornell College) was established in the town in 1853, and the Northwestern Railroad reached it in 1859, bringing new business to the town as its population expanded.

Geography

Mount Vernon has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The most prominent geographic feature of Mount Vernon is the "mountain" on which it sits. This "mountain" is actually a paha, a ridge formed of sand and loess along the line of the prevailing wind during the ice ages. The Mount Vernon paha is roughly one mile (2 km) long and 1/4 mile (1/2 km) wide, aligned along a roughly northwest to southeast axis and rising up to 100 feet (30 m) above the surrounding landscape. Uptown Mount Vernon is aligned with the southeast end of the ridge crest, while the campus of Cornell College crowns the northwest end of the ridge. The town is located on significant transportation corridors, both current and historical. The main line of the Union Pacific Railroad passes through the city, and the town is located on the historic Lincoln Highway. U.S. Route 30 and Iowa Highway 1 intersect in the southern part of town. Passenger train service was once provided by the Chicago and North Western Railway from a station in the north of town. The CRANDIC interurban electric railway ran from Cedar Rapids, through downtown Mount Vernon, and ended in nearby Lisbon. The interurban ran from 1914 to 1928 and took 45 minutes to travel to the western terminus of Cedar Rapids. Nearby stops included Bertram, the Palisades and Cornell College.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,735
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  4,685
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  4,443
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  4,339
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,309
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,074
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,962
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,932

Largest nearby schools

• Washington Elementary School
  Elementary · Mount Vernon · 537 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• Mount Vernon High School
  High · Mount Vernon · 468 students · 16.7:1 ratio
• Lisbon Elementary School
  Elementary · Lisbon · 415 students · 14.3:1 ratio
• Mount Vernon Middle School
  Middle · Mount Vernon · 397 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• Lisbon Secondary
  High · Lisbon · 304 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• Springville Elementary School
  Elementary · Springville · 253 students · 14.9:1 ratio
• Springville Secondary School
  High · Springville · 185 students · 10.9:1 ratio