Fults

History

The village was named after Jacob Fults, born in Pennsylvania in 1793 to German immigrants. Fults, after leaving the service of the United States during the War of 1812 in 1817, settled on Moredock Lake. He then moved to the Renault precinct, first up Braun's Hollow, then in 1829 to the settlement known at the time as "Braunsberg", which would eventually take his name, until his death in 1841. A site on the bluffs just north of Fults, overlooking the Bottoms, is known as Saltpeter Cave and took its name from the quantities of bat guano mined there for potassium nitrate, which was used in the local manufacture of black powder by the French at Fort de Chartres and later inhabitants. This cave, cut into the side of the bluffs and an excellent defensive position, was one of the last refuges for Native Americans in the region. It was a popular site in the area for rappelling and hiking, until access to it was restricted in the aftermath of the Great Flood of 1993 and several accidents at the site.

Geography

Fults is south-southwest of Waterloo, the county seat, and northwest of Prairie du Rocher. The Mississippi River is to the southwest, while the bluffs that mark the edge of the floodplain rise a quarter mile to the northeast of the village. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,062
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  1,620
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,552
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,521
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,437
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,427
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  1,333
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,320