Hiawatha

History

B.L. Rider reportedly was responsible for naming Hiawatha, taking the young Indian's name from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, The Song of Hiawatha. In the poem is legendary Onondaga and Mohawk Indian leader Hiawatha. Adjacent to the former Ioway-Sac reservation and the present-day Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Hiawatha is called Hári Wáta in Ioway, meaning "I am looking far away". Hiawatha was founded in 1857, making it one of the oldest towns in the state. John M. Coe, John P. Wheller, and Thomas J. Drummond were instrumental in organizing the city, and the site was staked out February 17, 1857. Hiawatha became the Brown County Seat in 1858, and the first school opened in 1870. The main street was designated Oregon Street after the Oregon Trail. Parallel streets north of it were named after Indian tribes north of the Trail, and streets south carried tribal names of those south of the Trail. The city is home to the longest running continuous Halloween parade in the nation, starting in 1914. According, a New Yorker, had fond memories of time spent in Hiawatha" Goldwater had hitchhiked to the community at the age of 17 and started working at the Hiawatha Daily World.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Hiawatha has a hot-summer humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfa" on climate maps.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  187
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  172
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  166
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  154
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  151
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  135
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  126
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  125

Largest nearby schools

• Hiawatha Elem
  Elementary · Hiawatha · 359 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• Hiawatha Middle School
  Middle · Hiawatha · 276 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• Hiawatha Sr High
  High · Hiawatha · 267 students · 12.7:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.5 — 2024-03-15
  2 km NE of Ferrelview, Missouri
• M 2.6 — 2018-07-20
  1 km WNW of Saint Joseph, Missouri
• M 2.9 — 2014-01-06
  5 km NW of Liberty, Nebraska
• M 3.6 — 2009-12-17
  2 km NW of Auburn, Nebraska
• M 3.1 — 2007-03-23
  5 km N of Nortonville, Kansas
• M 3.5 — 2004-07-16
  6 km SSE of Riverton, Iowa