The Valley of Friendliness
The town took its name from a large projecting rock on a bluff of the Iowa River, which at a distance presented the appearance of steamboats lying at anchor. On one of these was what resembled a wheel-house, and on this grew a large pine tree looking somewhat like a smokestack which in 1885 was struck by lightning and the shock cut off the “wheel house” and ruined the resemblance to a steamboat. Floods later completely washed away the piece of rock known as the wheel-house.
While it might have had to draw largely on fancy and imagination to ever have seen a steamboat on the bank of the river at that point, it was enough to forever give a pretty name to the town site.
Today it is known as "The Valley Of Friendliness". Know that you will receive a warm welcome when you visit.
The city of Steamboat Rock was platted in 1855 and named from a large rock on the river bluff which is said to resemble a queue of steamboats from a distance.
Steamboat Rock is located in Hardin County in central Iowa right along the Iowa River. We are at the intersection of County Highway D35 and County Highway S56. We are just south of the Highway 20 exit 181 and just north of Pine Lake State Park.
City Council Meeting
6:30pm
2nd Monday of each Month
7:00am Recycling
June 6th & 20th
July 4th & 18th
Tree Trimming:
Spring is right around the corner and tree trimming will begin again. The goal is to keep working on this project a little every year. It is always to your advantage for you to trim the trees you claim as yours. Your city is especially interested in dead trees and trees that hang too low (less than 8 ft) over sidewalks and too low less than 15 ft) over a roadway or designated alley. If you need help with your tree trimming, we can get you on a list for a tree service to trim for you, at your cost.
Thanks ~
Tim Stearns, Mayor
Is anybody else interested in having an “All School Reunion”? My wife and I, (Jim & Jane Kramer) would be interested in taking the lead on setting up a team of people to help organize another reunion. I believe that this would take a lot of work to update the list of graduates so we would need help to get this done. Are you willing to join this team? Or maybe you are willing to support this effort in some other way. If you are interested, please contact me at jimkkramer@heartofiowa.net