Unique, Iowa

Unique, Iowa was a hamlet in Weaver Township, Humboldt County, Iowa, United States.

The town contained a post office from April 1878 until September 1891. It was re-established April 1892 and discontinued permanently January 1902.

History

Settlers began building in the area when it was believed that a railroad would pass through the marshland. The Barker School was built at Unique in either 1873 or 1879. A post office was established in 1878. The state of Iowa moved the post office in 1880, to its present day location in the northeast corner. An argument over where the Methodist Church should be established with the Reed's Corner settlement (two miles to the south) had to be settled by church authorities. The church was built in 1889 just north of the Unique schoolhouse. The first school building was replaced in 1937, and the second school closed in 1944.

Today

A rusted metal sign is all that remains of Unique. It formerly said "Unique, Iowa", but is now illegible. The intersection of Humboldt County Route C44 (230th Street) and Humboldt County Route P29 (Florida Avenue) is often referred to colloquially as "Unique Corner". The settlement still appears on the Iowa DOT Map and Google Maps.

Iowa

Iowa (ⁱ/ˈaɪ.əwə/) is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States, bordered by the Mississippi River on the east and the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River on the west, by Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Missouri to the south, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, and Minnesota to the north.

In colonial times, Iowa was a part of French Louisiana and Spanish Louisiana; its state flag is patterned after the flag of France. After the Louisiana Purchase, settlers laid the foundation for an agriculture-based economy in the heart of the Corn Belt.

In the latter half of the 20th century, Iowa's agricultural economy made the transition to a diversified economy of advanced manufacturing, processing, financial services, information technology, biotechnology, and green energy production. Iowa is the 26th most extensive in land area and the 30th most populous of the 50 United States. Its capital and largest city is Des Moines. Iowa has been listed as one of the safest states in which to live. Its nickname is the Hawkeye State.

Iowa people

The Iowa (also spelled Ioway), also known as the Báxoǰe, are a Native American Siouan people. Today they are enrolled in either of two federally recognized tribes, the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma and the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska.

With the Missouria and the Otoe, the Ioway are the Chiwere-speaking peoples, claiming the Ho-Chunks as their "grandfathers." Their estimated population of 1,100 (in 1760) dropped to 800 (in 1804), a decrease caused mainly by smallpox, to which they had no natural immunity.

In 1837, the Iowa were moved from Iowa to reservations in Brown County, Kansas, and Richardson County, Nebraska. Bands of Iowa moved to Indian Territory in the late 19th century and settled south of Perkins, Oklahoma, becoming the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma.

Name

Their name has been said to come from ayuhwa ("asleep"). Early European explorers often adopted the names of tribes from the ethnonyms which other tribes gave them, not understanding that these differed from what the peoples called themselves. Thus, ayuhwa is not an Ioway word. The word Ioway comes from Dakotan ayuxbe via French aiouez. Their autonym (their name for themselves) is Báxoje, pronounced [b̥aꜜxodʒɛ] (alternate spellings: pahotcha, pahucha,), which translates to "grey snow". Báxoje has been incorrectly translated as "dusted faces" or "dusty nose", since the Ioway words use different consonants.

Iowa (steamboat)

The Steamboat Iowa was revered as one of the largest and fastest boats on the Mississippi in the mid 19th century; it is incorporated into the official Seal of Iowa. Built in 1838, the Iowa was the first vessel named for the newly formed Territory of Iowa. It weighed 112 tons, could pull 10 keelboats, and it set the speed record from Galena, Illinois to St. Louis in 1843, making the trip in 44 hours, a record that held until 1849. The Iowa was hired by Mormon supporters of Joseph Smith, Jr. as part of a plan to rescue him from jail in June 1843; the excursion was cancelled after Smith was murdered in jail. The Iowa sunk after a collision with the steamboat Declaration on Oct. 1, 1847 while traveling from New Orleans to St. Louis. This liability for this collision was ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court case John Walsh v. Patrick Rogers (54 U.S. 283- 1852). However, the Iowa was apparently rebuilt, or a new steamboat was later rechristened Iowa, since similar side-wheeler appeared twice in Barber and Howe's 1865 Loyal West in the Time of Rebellion, and there is reference to the Iowa being used as a troop transport during the Civil War.