It is hard to believe that a week ago, Melanie and I were just waking up to our first day here in Fort Madison, Iowa. We’ve been here a week now and it seems to have flown by with semi-busy days. Most people ask where Fort Madison is and even people I’ve met from Iowa don’t always recognize the name. Yet, did you know it IS the only town in the US with this name? Yes, I know, this excites me, too.
Fort Madison, Iowa, was established around the site of the first permanent US military fortification on the Upper Mississippi River. It was built between 1808 and 1813. This makes our town VERY old. It was also the location of Black Hawk’s first battle against US troops. It is recognized as the only real battle fought during the War of 1812 west of the Mississippi River.
This fort was named after President James Madison (4th President). It served as a strategic military outpost until it was abandoned in 1813. The fort faced many attacks from the Sauk Indians and other tribes. It was even besieged leading to its abandonment.
For years, we have had a replica of the original fort down near the Mississippi but thanks to flooding over the years they have slowly been dismantling it. However, Fort Madison has been recognized for its role in North American Indian relations and its role in early American military history.
Fort Madison is also known for the development of Shaeffer Pens (the big factory was here). It also has the oldest state penitentiary west of the Mississippi River. That prison sits on top of the bluff but has been turned into a museum of sorts. They have built a new prison outside of town. It is a pretty imposing building though and I remember always being a little in awe of its massive structure thinking about when they would have built it.
Being right along the Mississippi and with train tracks running along side the river, this makes a great place to watch the trains. Melanie and I used to walk down from our home to watch them zip by. She loved them and always wanted to be riding in a train. Now she can say she has.
Fort Madison has the quaint downtown street (we call it Ave. G as the streets are laid out very well with alphabets and numbers). When we first lived here in 2004, they had an old building with a tower as the library. We loved visiting it. Since then they have built a new library in a different part of town but we still always drive by to have a look at the old place.
We also have a swing bridge to cross from Iowa to Illinois and we often see steamboats and barges coming down the river.
All in all, it is a nice little town and what elevates it to amazing is a church that started 31 years ago with a man of God who had a desire for lost souls. God brought him from IL to IA to start Joy Baptist Church in his home and today they meet in a beautiful old (big) building they were able to buy from the Methodists. Coming home to Joy is truly coming home. The people are friendly and we get to meet new ones every time we visit. The people at Joy know no strangers and they will open their arms and hearts to you. Stop on by and visit Joy Baptist. You’ll enJOY the service!
