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Trip PlannerUSA  /  Iowa  /  Mason City

Mason City

4.6
Historic Sites · Architectural Buildings · Historic Walking Areas
Mason City is a city in and the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 28,079 in the 2010 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro Gordo and Worth counties. It is commonly referred to as the "River City", as the city grew up centered on the Winnebago River.HistoryThe region around what would later be first called "Shibboleth" was a summer home to the Sioux and Winnebago natives. The first settlement was made at Shibboleth in 1853 at the confluence of the Winnebago River and Calmus Creek. The town had several names: Shibboleth, Masonic Grove, and Masonville, until the name Mason City was adopted in 1855, in honor of a founder's son, Mason Long.In 1854, John McMillin opened the first store, and Dr. Silas Card opened the first medical practice in the area. Lizzie Thompson established the first schoolhouse in a log cabin in 1856. The United States Post Office Department started service to the town in 1857. Mason City was named as the county seat in 1858.Musical heritageMason City is known for its musical heritage, consistently producing successful performers and educators. The city's "favorite son", Meredith Willson, grew up in Mason City and played in the Mason City Symphonic Band as a high school student. Willson's crowning achievement was the famous musical The Music Man. Many of the characters in it were taken from people Willson knew from his childhood in Mason City.
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