A gigantic map of all the cool plaques in the world. A project of 99% Invisible.

Keokuk Memorial

This Monumentis erected by popular subscriptionIn the Memory of theSAC ChiefKeokukFor whom this city was named. In 1883, his remains together with the marble slab on the reverse side of this die...

This Monumentis erected by popular subscriptionIn the Memory of theSAC ChiefKeokukFor whom this city was named. In 1883, his remains together with the marble slab on the reverse side of this die...

  • iowa
  • keokuk
  • native american
  • gravesite
  • burial

To The Memory of the Pioneers

To the memory of the pioneers who entered Iowa by Keokuk the Gate City and either settling in our state or passing farther west travelled over the well-worn road known as the Mormon Trail.With...

To the memory of the pioneers who entered Iowa by Keokuk the Gate City and either settling in our state or passing farther west travelled over the well-worn road known as the Mormon Trail.With...

  • iowa
  • keokuk
  • mormons
  • religion
  • pioneers

Keokuk's Speech in 1812

I have heard with sorrow that you have determined to leave our village and cross the Mississippi merely because you have been told that the Americans were coming in this direction. Would you leave...

I have heard with sorrow that you have determined to leave our village and cross the Mississippi merely because you have been told that the Americans were coming in this direction. Would you leave...

  • iowa
  • keokuk
  • native american

Latter-day Saint Immigrants' Camp, 1853

Keokuk, Iowa, is named in honor of Chief Keokuk, a Sac and Fox chief who is buried there. The city is located on the west side of the Mississippi River, about 12 miles southwest of Nauvoo. On...

Keokuk, Iowa, is named in honor of Chief Keokuk, a Sac and Fox chief who is buried there. The city is located on the west side of the Mississippi River, about 12 miles southwest of Nauvoo. On...

  • iowa
  • keokuk
  • mormons
  • religion

The Hughes Family

Felix and Jean Hughes moved with their three super achieving children to Keokuk in 1879. Felix served as Mayor, President of the Keokuk and Western Railroad and was a Supreme Court Justice. The...

Felix and Jean Hughes moved with their three super achieving children to Keokuk in 1879. Felix served as Mayor, President of the Keokuk and Western Railroad and was a Supreme Court Justice....

  • iowa
  • keokuk
  • industrialists

Conrad Nagel

Conrad Nagel was born in Keokuk, Iowa on March 16, 1897. The son of Frank, a musician, and Frances, a talented singer, it is no surprise Nagel grew up to be a famous silent and sound movie star....

Conrad Nagel was born in Keokuk, Iowa on March 16, 1897. The son of Frank, a musician, and Frances, a talented singer, it is no surprise Nagel grew up to be a famous silent and sound movie star....

  • iowa
  • keokuk
  • entertainment

Elsa Maxwell

Elsa Maxwell was born May 24, 1883 in Keokuk, Iowa – it is said she was born in a theater during the opera Mignon. She was raised in San Francisco, California where her father sold insurance and...

Elsa Maxwell was born May 24, 1883 in Keokuk, Iowa – it is said she was born in a theater during the opera Mignon. She was raised in San Francisco, California where her father sold insurance and...

  • iowa
  • keokuk
  • entertainment

Samuel Freeman Miller

Samuel Miller moved to Keokuk in 1850 and practiced law here until he was appointed Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1862. He served until his death, 28 years later, and was...

Samuel Miller moved to Keokuk in 1850 and practiced law here until he was appointed Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1862. He served until his death, 28 years later, and was...

  • iowa
  • lee county
  • supreme court

Chief Keokuk

Chief Keokuk was born in 1780 near the present location of Rock Island, Illinois. His tribe, the Sauk Indians, joined with the remnants of the Mesquakie tribe (or Fox Indians) to form a community...

Chief Keokuk was born in 1780 near the present location of Rock Island, Illinois. His tribe, the Sauk Indians, joined with the remnants of the Mesquakie tribe (or Fox Indians) to form a community...

  • iowa
  • keokuk
  • native american

Annie Wittenmter

General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Union Army said of Wittenmyer, “No soldier on the firing line gave more heroic service than she did.”Sarah Ann Turner (Annie) was born in Sandy Springs,...

General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Union Army said of Wittenmyer, “No soldier on the firing line gave more heroic service than she did.”Sarah Ann Turner (Annie) was born in Sandy Springs,...

  • iowa
  • keokuk
  • civil war
  • women

Charlotta Gordon Pyles

Former slave and celebrated abolitionist, Charlotta Pyles was an outspoken critic of slavery. She was born a slave in Kentucky in 1804. Her father was a mixture of German and African American...

Former slave and celebrated abolitionist, Charlotta Pyles was an outspoken critic of slavery. She was born a slave in Kentucky in 1804. Her father was a mixture of German and African American...

  • iowa
  • native american
  • abolition

J.C. Hubinger

Industrialist and philanthropist, John Carl Hubinger was born in New Orleans in 1851, the first of eight children. The family moved north when J.C. was four, living in Kentucky and Indiana before...

Industrialist and philanthropist, John Carl Hubinger was born in New Orleans in 1851, the first of eight children. The family moved north when J.C. was four, living in Kentucky and Indiana before...

  • iowa
  • keokuk
  • industry

The Estes House

...used as a hospitalfor Soldiers of the Civil WarApr. 17, 1862 – Oct. 1, 1865Occupied this site

...used as a hospitalfor Soldiers of the Civil WarApr. 17, 1862 – Oct. 1, 1865Occupied this site

  • iowa
  • civil war
  • keokuk

Urban Trails of Keokuk

  • keokuk
  • iowa
  • walking trails

Keokuk Armory Explosion Memorial

In memory of the 21 persons who perished in an explosion of The National Guard Armory on this site on Thanksgiving eve Nov. 24, 1965, while attending a square dance of The Swing-Ezy Square Dance Club.

In memory of the 21 persons who perished in an explosion of The National Guard Armory on this site on Thanksgiving eve Nov. 24, 1965, while attending a square dance of The Swing-Ezy Square Dance Club.

  • iowa
  • keokuk
  • disaster
  • square dance

Mark Twain - Site of the Clemens Brothers' Print Shop

 Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) walked the streets of Keokuk in the years 1855 and 1856. He worked for his brother, Orion, who owned a printing business "The Ben Franklin Book and Job Office”...

 Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) walked the streets of Keokuk in the years 1855 and 1856. He worked for his brother, Orion, who owned a printing business "The Ben Franklin Book and Job...

  • iowa
  • mark twain

Welcome to Keokuk, Iowa

Once a place where Native American Indians hunted and fished, this peninsular part of Iowa is located where the Des Moines River flows into the Mississippi River.Under French and Spanish rule for...

Once a place where Native American Indians hunted and fished, this peninsular part of Iowa is located where the Des Moines River flows into the Mississippi River.Under French and Spanish rule for...

  • keokuk
  • iowa
  • visitors

Water When Needed

A public water supply system was first discussed in the 1850's when Keokuk's population was increasing dramatically, but with the financial panic of 1857 no action was taken. Most home owners had...

A public water supply system was first discussed in the 1850's when Keokuk's population was increasing dramatically, but with the financial panic of 1857 no action was taken. Most home owners had...

  • keokuk
  • iowa
  • industry
  • public service

Waterpower - Dream and Reality

Starting as early as the 1840's, proposals were advanced for building a wing dam near Keokuk that would focus the power of the Mississippi's current. However, no viable plan was formed until the...

Starting as early as the 1840's, proposals were advanced for building a wing dam near Keokuk that would focus the power of the Mississippi's current. However, no viable plan was formed until the...

  • iowa
  • keokuk
  • utilities
  • dam
  • mississippi river
  • industry

Hugh Lincoln Cooper

The Illinois, Iowa, Missouri area centered in Keokuk owes much to Hugh Lincoln Cooper engineer, backed by area businessmen, he built, in three years, 1910-1913, the dam and powerhouse now operated...

The Illinois, Iowa, Missouri area centered in Keokuk owes much to Hugh Lincoln Cooper engineer, backed by area businessmen, he built, in three years, 1910-1913, the dam and powerhouse now operated...

  • iowa
  • engineering
  • dam
  • industry