Forest City, Iowa

Episode 144 / 7 November 2019 / 163 min / full

One In A Ditch & One In A Bed

"James: 'we're going to Forest City Iowa', north central Iowa on the Minnesota border, in both Hancock and Winnebago counties" about 0:06:03

The case: Murders of Jennifer and Rob Johnson (February 9, 1985). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2019

Population

4,083

Median household income

47,000

Median home value

99300 bucks

Two-bedroom rent

about $664 a month

Cost of living

81

Religious

66%

Property crime

▼ under half

Violent crime

about two-thirds

History, in brief

• Forest City is in north central Iowa, in the top row of counties on the Minnesota border, in both Hancock and Winnebago counties. It is about two hours five minutes from Des Moines and two hours ten minutes from Minneapolis. about 0:06:06
• Zip code 50436, area code 641, about four and a half square miles. The town motto is 'where nature's close and friends are closer'. about 0:10:50
• The town was first settled around 1855 and platted in 1856. Its first name was Pucker Brush. about 0:12:28
• The official founder is Robert Clark, who laid out the plat and built the first log cabin, which stood until 1870. Another settler, A. T. Cole, brought the first family in 1856. about 0:14:27
• A log store was built in 1856, then a hotel on a corner lot that cost five dollars; Clark's hotel was an 18 by 24 foot structure. about 0:16:12
• The Civil War slowed growth, but the land attracted immigrants. In 1879 a rail line between St. Louis and Minneapolis came through, bringing Swedish, Norwegian, German and Danish settlers. about 0:16:59
• Forest City was incorporated in 1878. The first train arrived in 1879 at 3.30 p.m. with the whole town out to watch. about 0:17:42
• Two passenger trains and two freight trains left the depots daily. The first telegraph message went out on Christmas Day 1879. about 0:18:43
• The Farmers Cooperative formed in 1916. In 2007 the county grew the largest average corn yield per acre of any county in Iowa. about 0:19:20
• Forest City community schools built a wind turbine for their facilities in 1998, as a physics project for the high school class. about 0:19:56
• The town's former hotel became a college (Waldorf College). about 0:19:11
• Notable people: Bob Baker, a singing cowboy in Western films who died in 1975, and Mike Stensrud, a defensive lineman for the Oilers and Vikings who retired in 1989. about 0:22:31
• Tree City Music Festival used to book large country acts; Country Thunder took it over after a lawsuit by a Nashville production company and a chapter seven bankruptcy by the owner of the other festival. about 0:29:49
• Pucker Brush Days is a three-day annual celebration named after the dense burred bush that once surrounded the town, with face painting, a pet parade, a salad luncheon, DJs and fireworks. about 0:30:33

The reviews read out

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