Iowa Park

One of many small towns that sprang up ahead of the railroads as they crossed Texas in the 1800s. Located on the Fort Worth and Denver City Line, this town was first named Daggett's Switch in 1885 for a prominent rancher and railroad official. F. W. & D. C. contractor Gen. G. M. Dodge (already famous as builder of the Union Pacific) spearheaded the founding of Iowa Park by actively promoting a town on land he owned here. Many people from the Midwest--especially Iowa--were recruited to settle the infant town. Land promoters D. C. and A. J. Kolp, from Iowa, drew up a plat which featured many parks, in 1888. After this first period of rapid growth, Iowa Park settled down to more than 20 years of prosperity based on a thriving farm economy. Lightning struck, however, in 1918 when oil was discovered on a farm south of here. Speculators flooded the city and land prices sky-rocketed. The Iowa Park Producing and Refining Company was chartered in 1921 and operated until 1932. The boom itself gradually exhausted the resources here and was over by 1925. In 1924 the Wichita Valley Agriculture Experiment Station was built and is still functioning. A steady farm economy prevails again today.

Iowa Park is a historical marker in Iowa Park, Wichita County, dedicated in 1969. It is one of 75 historical markers documented in Wichita County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 94 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 33.9524, -98.6677 near Iowa Park. The nearest cataloged historic site is Iowa Park Consolidated Independent School District (historical marker), about 0.2 miles away. Others within a short drive include Wichita Valley Refinery and Texas Oklahoma Fair, Burnett, Tom Lloyd, and Burnett, Tom Lloyd Home.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5485005531. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.