BOONE, Iowa, city and county-seat of Boone County, on the Chicago & N. W., the Chicago, M. & Saint Paul and the Fort Dodge, D. M. & S. railroads, 43 miles northwest of i Des Moines. It is an important milling, manu facturing and coal-mining centre and in the vicinity are large deposits of fire and pottery clays. The chief industries are the manufac ture of clay products, hardware specialties, cement tile machines, hair tonic and toilet sup plies, hosiery, artificial ice, blankbooks and the mining and shipping of coal. The United States census of manufactures for 1914 re ported 33 industrial establishments of factory grade, employing 364 of whom 256 are wage-earners, receiving annually $139.000 in wages. The capital invested totalled $875, 000 and the year's output was valued at $908, 000; of this, $419,000 was added by manufac ture. There is also an extensive trade in agricultural produce, grain and live stock, and the shops of the Chicago & N. W. and the Ft. D., D. M. & S. rail
roads are located here. The city has five banks, with assets aggregating $5,000,000, six ward schools, a grammar school, a high school cost ing $275,000, Lutheran and Catholic parochial schools, a business college and a Bible college. Among the public buildings may be noted the court-house, the library, the hospital, O. E. S. Home, Swedish National Old Peoples' Home, Masonic Temple, Y. M. C. A. building, the post office and the armory. Boone was settled in 1848 and incorporated in 1866. The govern ment is vested in a mayor, five councilmen and two councilmen-at-large. The government re ceipts average about $280,000, the expenses 4.000. The value of taxable property is The water works costing $350,000, are owned by the municipality. Pop. (1910) 10,347; (1915) 12,253.