Cycling RAGBRAI: 2012: Next Stop: Webster City Iowa

Webster City is a city in Hamilton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,070 at the United States 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Hamilton County.

Area: 8.6 sq miles (22.3 km²)

Weather: 73° F, Wind N at 0 mph, 88% Humidity

Population: 7,642 (2009)

Local time: 10:01pm Saturday (CDT)

Webster City is a beautiful city located along the Boone River in North Central Iowa.

It offers many aspects of small town life with the
conveniences of larger towns. There are many quality parks,
a city campground, a bicycle and walking trails, swimming
pools, a library, movie theatre as well as a high school,
middle school and 2 elementary schools.

Call me crazy, but I don't remember the overnight host towns being quite so small last year. Boone, Altoona, Carroll & Grinnell were each near or over 10,000 residents. This years route is a more northern one as compared to last year...so I think a good mantra for my trip will be to remind myself that the city's population is in direct proportion to the size of that city's hills. So while I may not be able to ask where a restroom is, at least it will be because there is no one to ask and not because I am too winded to do so!

Once again, I recognize no names on Webster City's notable list, but at least they can boast that they have one.

Notable natives

Jennifer Simpson, Olympic distance runner
Abastenia St. Leger Eberle, sculptor
MacKinlay Kantor, writer and 1956 Fiction Pullitzer Prize winner for his novel Andersonville.^[4]
Clark R. Mollenhoff, journalist and 1958 Pullitzer Prize winner for Journalism in the category of National Reporting (Des Moines Register and Tribune).^[5]
Ben Larson, PGA, Tournament Rules Official NGA Hooters Tour
Rod Rust, Football coach
Jeremy Ferguson (Jinxx), Black Veil Brides Rhythm Guitarist & Violinist

Now for a bit of Iowa History...

	June 1835 U.S. Dragoons
	In early June 1835, three companies of United States Dragoons were the first white men to see the area now occupied by Webster City. Commanded by Col. Stephen W. Kearney, the mounted soldiers first reached the Boone River two miles east of its mouth, naming it in honor of a Dragoon officer, Captain Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone
	First Settlers
	Wilson Brewer was the first settler within the current boundaries of Webster City. The Brewer cabin built near Brewer Creek was reconstructed near its original site by Brewer’s grandson, Frank Bonebright, who established a museum and park as a memorial to Webster City’s first family.
	Newcastle on the Boone
	Brewer often referred to the settlement as Newcastle-on-the Boone, naming it for his boyhood home in Virginia, Highcastle-on-the-James. Newcastle grew into a small town with a few log stores selling supplies and yard goods. Wilson Brewer influenced numerous people to settle in Newcastle and in two years there was such an influx of people that the future of Webster City was assured.
	The Newcastle Purchase
	Wilson Brewer and William Frakes plotted the town, first known as Newcastle, on October 27, 1854. The plat was two blocks wide and four blocks long. In 1855, Walter C. Willson purchased the Newcastle plat for $22,000. Then on October 9, 1855, the Webster City Post Office was established.
	Newcastle to Webster City
	At that time, Newcastle was considered to be part of Webster County not Hamilton County. There was a struggle over what town would be the county seat. Willson was elected as a state representative and purposed to split Webster County into two separate counties. While Willson was in Iowa City fulfilling his duties as a state representative, he enlisted the help of William W. Hamilton to help him get the purposed act passed. Then on January 1, 1857, the county was divided into two and Hamilton County was born. Willson named the new county Hamilton, to recognize the assistance of William W. Hamilton in getting the new county established. As part of the act, the town of Newcastle was renamed Webster City.
	What’s in a Name!
	There are three theories as to why the name of the town was changed to Webster City. The first theory is that the town was named after a popular stage coach driver that visited Willson’s hotel often. The second theory is that the town was named after Daniel Webster for whom the original county was named after. The last theory is that the town was named Webster City because it was customary to name the town after the county it resided in, which was originally, Webster County.
	Pulitzer Prize Winners
	Webster City is the hometown of two Pulitzer Prize winning authors, MacKinlay Kantor and Clark Mollenhoff. Kantor was born in 1904. He won the Pulitzer Prize for literature with Andersonville in 1956. He wrote over forty novels throughout his career. Mollenhoff graduated from Webster City High School and Webster City Junior College. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1958 for National Reporting. He wrote ten books throughout his career. Both men were honored in 1976 with a dedication of the Kantor-Mollenhoff Plaza in West Twin Parks. Webster City, Iowa, is the only community in the nation that has produced two Pulitzer Prize winners.