West Union

History

Originally called Knob Prairie, the community was founded by William Wells, naming it for his hometown, also called West Union, in Ohio. The vacuum cleaner was invented here in 1860 by Daniel Hess.

Geography

West Union is located at (42.962035, -91.810055). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. The city lies at the junction of U.S. Route 18 with Iowa Highways 56 and 150. West Union is the home of the North Fayette Valley Community School District, which comprises the communities of West Union; Clermont; Elgin; Wadena; Hawkeye; Fayette, the unincorporated town of Alpha and the surrounding rural areas. North Fayette and Valley Community Schools combined services in 2013 with the high school in West Union and the middle school in Elgin. The new school's mascot is called the Tigerhawks, due to the merging of the schools mascots, the Valley Tigers and the North Fayette Hawks. This agreement came about as a result of low enrollment and less state aid. The agreement was intended to last until the end of the 2015–2016 school year, when the school boards could decide to either: continue the whole-grade sharing agreement, end the agreement and go back to the North Fayette and Valley school districts, or officially consolidate the two districts. In July, 2018, after overwhelming majorities from both districts agreed to the merger, the district officially became North Fayette Valley.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  397
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  329
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  311
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  303
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  275
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  266
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  235
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  234