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Cooper, Iowa

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Unincorporated community in Iowa, United States
Cooper, Iowa
Unincorporated community
Cooper is located in IowaCooperCooperShow map of IowaCooper is located in the United StatesCooperCooperShow map of the United States
Coordinates: 41°55′N 94°21′W / 41.917°N 94.350°W / 41.917; -94.350
CountryUnited States
StateIowa
CountyGreene
ZIP code50059
Area code515

Cooper is an unincorporated community in Greene County, Iowa, United States.

History

Cooper was founded in 1881 with the arrival of the railroad, and was named after Des Moines railroad executive F.M. Hubbell's father-in-law, Isaac Cooper. Cooper's population reached a high point of about 250 in 1900.

A fire in 1921 leveled much of Cooper's business district.

The population was 157 in 1940.

The Cooper School District was merged with nearby Jefferson in 1959; the Franklin Township School closed that summer and the junior high school building closed in the 1970s.

In late July, 1980, the Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) brought 5,000 cyclists pedaling through town. As the cyclists approached from the west, a cannon was fired and a recording of the 1812 Overture was repeatedly played.

Arts and culture

Cooper has become nationally known for two things:

1. In 1981 an international search to adopt the 51st citizen of this small town landed residents on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The publicity which followed generated a crowd of nearly 12,500 for the weekend event.

2. Later years home of the "Iowa Boy" Chuck Offenburger.

See also

References

  1. "Cooper ZIP Code". zipdatamaps.com. 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  2. ^ "Greenecounty Iowa Development". Cooper. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  3. The Attorneys List. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, Attorney List Department. 1940. p. 296.
  4. "Offenburger.com". Retrieved December 22, 2010.

External links

Municipalities and communities of Greene County, Iowa, United States
County seat: Jefferson
Cities
Map of Iowa highlighting Greene County
Townships
Unincorporated
communities
Footnotes‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties


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