Sandusky, Iowa

The Des Moines Rapids between Nauvoo, Illinois and Keokuk, Iowa-Hamilton, Illinois is one of two major rapids on the Mississippi River that limited Steamboat traffic on the river through the early 19th century. The rapids just above the confluence of the Des Moines River were to contribute to the Honey War in the 1830s between Missouri and Iowa over the Sullivan Line that separates the two states. Various attempts to make the river navigable started in 1837 when a channel was blasted through the rapids by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers team led by Robert E. Lee. A canal around the rapids was built in 1877. It is now obliterated by Lock and Dam No. 19. The other major rapids barring traffic on the Mississippi is the Rock Island Rapids. The Mississippi in its natural state widens from 2,500 feet (760 m) to 4,500 feet (1,400 m) in width at Nauvoo as it drops 22 feet (6.7 m) over 11 miles (18 km) over shallow limestone rocks to the confluence with Des Moines. According to records its mean depth through the rapids was 2.4 feet (0.73 m) and "much less" in many places. Beginning in 1804 United States government-sponsored trading posts for Native Americans as part of the Native American factory system began being built at the rapids. Forts were associated with the trading posts including Fort Johnson, Fort Madison. The forts were burned during the War of 1812. After the war Fort [Edwards] was established and commanded by Zachary Taylor. In 1816 U.S. Government surveyor John C. Sullivan surveyed a line stretching 100 miles (160 km) north from the confluence of the Kansas River with the Missouri River in Kansas City, Missouri and then back east to the Des Moines River. The distance matched the rapids but when Missouri entered the Union in 1820 its constitution instead referred to the Sullivan line as "the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the River Des Moines." Missouri did not attempt to clarify the mistake even when the Iowa, Sauk and Meskwaki ceded all land "in Missouri" along the line from the Mississippi to the Indian Territory Line (Sullivan's line going north from the Kansas) in 1824. This created the Half-Breed Tract. When interest in the rapids increased in the late 1830s as work began on making the rapids navigable, along with Iowa's beginning the process of entering as a state, Missouri took an interest in asserting control of the west side of the rapids. However, thwarted by its constitution which clearly stated the Des Moines River was the border, it instead asserted that there were no rapids where the Sullivan line crossed the Des Moines and conducted a new survey which said the rapids of the Des Moines were about 9.5 miles (15.3 km) north, near Keosauqua, Iowa, and attempted to collect taxes in the area. This prompted the bloodless Honey War, with Iowa resisting the effort. The Supreme Court was to ultimately decide in State of Missouri v. State of Iowa, 48 U.S. 660 (1849), that Iowa's southern boundary was the foot of the rapids at modern day Keokuk (although accepting the Sullivan Line for the rest of the border from about 20 miles (32 km) west).

Keokuk High School is a rural public four-year high school located in Keokuk, Iowa. The school, a part of the Keokuk Community School District, draws students from the southernmost part of Lee County, Iowa. For athletics, Keokuk High School is classified as 3A, the second largest class in Iowa. They are a member of the Southeast Conference.

The Cyrus Felt House is a historic house located along the Mississippi River and Illinois Route 96 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Hamilton, Illinois. The house was built circa 1834 by Cyrus Felt, a New Hampshire native who moved to Hancock County in the early 1830s. Felt was a prominent citizen of the town of Montebello, which was the second-oldest town in the county but has since been abandoned. Felt's house has a French-inspired design, likely influenced by the area's substantial French population, with Greek Revival details. The house's porches, columns and roof line give it its predominant French character, while its window and door heads are its most prominent Greek Revival features. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 18, 1980.

Keokuk Catholic Schools, also operating as St. Vincent's Elementary School is a Catholic School in Keokuk, Iowa. It was established circa 1853. It previously consisted of two separate campuses, one being St. Vincent's School and one being Cardinal Stritch High School. The high school merged into Holy Trinity Catholic Schools of Fort Madison, Iowa in 2006, and the elementary school moved into the former high school building. At that time the St. Vincent's name was dropped, but by 2013 the school had plans to again use that name.

Keokuk Community School District (KCSD) is a public school district headquartered in Keokuk, Iowa. It is entirely in Lee County, and serves Keokuk and the rural areas to the north and west of Keokuk. The district borders the states of Illinois to the east and Missouri to the south. As of 2018 it had about 1,860 students, making it the 43rd largest school district in Iowa.

Perry Park was the home field for the Keokuk Westerns of the National Association during the 1875 season, so it is considered a major league ballpark by those who count the NA as a major league. The Westerns played their first game against the Chicago White Stockings on May 4, 1875, at Perry Park, which was located in a field beyond Rand Park. They played their last game on June 14, 1875, against the New York Mutuals also at Perry Park.

The Park Place-Grand Avenue Residential District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Keokuk, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 75 resources, which included 60 contributing buildings, one contributing structure, and 14 non-contributing buildings. The area was where successful Keokuk businessmen built their homes. It was known as the "best place to live in Keokuk." and still holds that distinction. The Park Place/Grand Avenue Historic district features 146 years of architecture from 1856 until 2002. In 1856, Charles Mason, a former Chief Justice of the Iowa Territory, platted Mason's Upper Addition to the city of Keokuk. This area extends from 10th avenue on the north to the river bluff edge on the south. The city was in the midst of a building boom at the time, and half-dozen houses were built before the Financial Panic of 1857. After the Panic, there was a slow development of Park Place from 4th to 5th and Grand Avenue from 6th to 10th. As individual businessmen prospered, they built houses along the Avenue. The houses along Orleans and Park Place on the southern end of the district are generally smaller and built on more compact lots than those further north along Grand Avenue. Most of the newer homes are located north of Tenth Street. It is believed that most of the homes are architect-designed even though only a few names are known, and they follow a variety of architectural designs that were popular at the time they were built. The John N. and Mary L. (Rankin) Irwin House (1856) and the C. R. Joy House (1897) are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.(The Joy house was destroyed by fire in 2018). Other homes of interest include the home built by Samuel T. Marshall, co-founder of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, a home designed by Barry Byrne (a student of Frank Lloyd Wright), the Corydon Rich mansion built in 1918 on part of the former J.C. Hubinger estate, and the residence of Jean (Mrs. Felix) Hughes, grandmother of Howard Hughes. The home was built without closets because Mrs. Hughes believed that closets bred moths and disease Keokuk was a vital hub for the Union during the Civil War. More than 80,000 soldiers from throughout Iowa were staged at some point in Keokuk as they were shipped off to the various western fronts of the war and was the home of General Samuel Curtis, mayor of Keokuk 1856-1861. The city became the location for four Union army camps and four hospitals to care for wounded troops from April 17, 1862, until October 1, 1865. After the war ended, many veterans returned to Keokuk to settle and start businesses along the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers. One pre-war resident was Samuel Clemons, who worked in his older brother Orion's printing business in 1855-1857 and he gave his first after-dinner talk in January 1856 before he became an author with the pen name Mark Twain. He also purchased a home for his mother, Jane Clemons, in Keokuk in 1889 and she lived there until her death in 1890.

The C. R. Joy House, also known as The Grande Anne Bed & Breakfast, was a historic building located in Keokuk, Iowa, United States. It was destroyed by fire in July 2018. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. In 2002 it was included as a contributing property in The Park Place-Grand Avenue Residential District.

Montrose Township is a township in Lee County, Iowa.

The Alois and Annie Weber House is a historic building located in Keokuk, Iowa, United States. The significance of the three-story house is its association with the period of industrial growth in the city when it was built and as a fine local example of the Second Empire style. It features an asymmetrical concave mansard roof, decorative brackets, and pedimented dormer windows. The house is noteworthy for its tall narrow windows and high ceilings. Two additions were added to the rear of the house not long after the main house was built. The Queen Anne-style wraparound porch is supported by 14 classical columns. It also features a balustrade and spindlework along the beadboard ceiling. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. Alois Weber founded A. Weber & Co., a hardware business and was known throughout the Midwest. He ran the business until his death in 1917. His wife Annie owned a millinery shop from 1856 to 1887. She died in 1898.

The John N. and Mary L. (Rankin) Irwin House is a historic building located in Keokuk, Iowa, United States. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. In 2002 it was included as a contributing property in The Park Place-Grand Avenue Residential District.

The Justice Samuel Freeman Miller House is a historic building in Keokuk, Iowa, United States. It is now operated as the Miller House Museum by the Lee County Historical Society. The significance of this house is its association with Samuel Freeman Miller who had it built. Originally from Kentucky, he was a physician and a lawyer with a national reputation. Miller was nominated by President Abraham Lincoln to serve on the United States Supreme Court in 1862. His was the first nomination to the court of a person who resided west of the Mississippi River. He served on the court for 28 years. Although he lived here for only two years, Miller always considered this his home. The house is a two-story structure designed in the Italianate style. It has an exposed basement on the rear of the structure. The brick residence is capped with a low-pitched hip roof and bracketed eaves. The bracketed porch on the main level features a balcony on the second floor. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.