City of Hiawatha, Iowa

In 1946, Fay Clark looked out onto farm fields and had a vision of houses and a highway running through a new city. Clark remarked in a February 1984, Gazette interview, that once he had that vision, nothing could stop me, and I knew I would be a part of it. Previous to having this vision of a new city, he had purchased 11 acres west of Robins Road where he constructed a Quonset building that contained a lunchroom and a welding shop. He had already established a trailer company and had built a modern trailer court on 20 acres of land east of Robins Road; kindly known as Hiawatha Oak Brook Trailer Court, which today is being redeveloped to stimulate activity in the heart of the city. In 1950, Clark and another 45 residents signed a petition seeking to become the 17th incorporated town in Linn County. The town would be named after Clarks trailer company. That same year he and Henry Katz of Marion, established the Linn County Fire Association to help provide fire protection to rural ...