KE'OKUK. A city and one of the county seats of Lee County, Iowa. 160 miles southeast of the State capital. Des Moines; at the con ilitenee of the 'Mississippi and Dos Moines rivers; and on the Chicago. Burlington and Quincy. the Chicago. Rock Island and Pacific, the Toledo. Peoria and Western, the Wabash, and other railroads (3Iap: Iowa, F 4). it is at the foot of the Des Moines Rapids of the 'Mississippi, around which a canal eight miles long with three sets of locks, built by the Federal Government at a cost of between SCVell and eight million dol lare. and opened in IS77. provides a navigable waterway. With these transportation facilities, both by rail and by water, Keokuk has developed into an important wholesale and jobbing place. and. as the centre of a fertile agricultural section, controls an extensive trade in farm products. The river falls 21 feet in 12 milea, affording at this point great possibilities for water-power, estimated at from fifty thousand to five hundred thousand horse-power, which is now being de veloped. The industrial establishments include lumber-mills, powder-works, yenning and pickle establishments, a poultry-packing, plant. tin-can factory. stove-works. garment factories, boot and shoe factories, a cereal factory, and tlour-mills. The city, locally known as the `Gate City,' ex tends from the river to the summit of high bluffs, and has wide streets. Among its features may be mentioned Rand Park. the burial-place of
the Indian chief after whom the city was named, the National Cemetery, a public. library of 17, 000 volumes; and among educational institutions, a. college of physicians, established in 1849, and a large dental college. Other noteworthy struc tures arc the United States Government build ing. the high-school building, the Union rail road station, Young Men's Christian Association building, and opera-house. The railroad and wagon bridge across the Mississippi River here is over 2000 feet long.
Keokuk was incorporated first in 1848, and is governed. as are four other cities in Iowa, by special charter. The government. is vested in a mayor, elected biennially; a unicameral coun cil; and subordinate municipal officials, of whom the more important are appointed or elected as follows: By the mayor—the police and deputy marshal, light inspector, street supervisor, and calaboose-keeper; by the mayor, with the consent of the council—the library committee, park com missioners, and city weigher: by the council— the mayor pro tem., city attorney, clerk of the Superior Court, city engineer, treasurer, and side walk inspector; and by the people—the judge of the Superior Court, city marshal, and assessor. Population, in 1890, 14,101 ; in 1900, 14,641. Consult "Early Days in Keokuk," in Annals of Iowa, vol. iii. (Iowa City, 1871).