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What Cheer, Iowa

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What Cheer, Iowa
City
Location of What Cheer, Iowa
Location of What Cheer, Iowa
Country United States
State Iowa
CountyKeokuk
Area
 • Total1.2 sq mi (3.2 km2)
 • Land1.2 sq mi (3.1 km2)
 • Water0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation
784 ft (239 m)
Population
 (2000)
 • Total678
 • Density559.4/sq mi (216.0/km2)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
50268
Area code641
FIPS code19-84900
GNIS feature ID0465964

What Cheer (pronounced 'WAH-cheer') is a city in Keokuk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 678 at the 2000 census.

The name What Cheer

When the future What Cheer was founded in 1865, it was named Petersburg for Peter Britton, the settlement's founder. This name was rejected by the Post Office, forcing a change of name. Joseph Andrews, a major and veteran of the American Civil War suggested the name What Cheer, and the town was officially renamed on December 1, 1879.[1][2]

Sources differ as to why the name What Cheer was chosen. The phrase what cheer with you is an ancient English greeting dating back at least to the 1400s.[3] One theory of the name is that a Scotch miner exclaimed What cheer! on discovering a coal seam near town.[2][4] A more elaborate theory suggests that Joseph Andrews chose the name because of one of the founding myths of his native town of Providence, Rhode Island. According to the story, when Roger Williams arrived at the site that would become Providence in 1636, and was greeted by Narragansett Native Americans with "What Cheer, Netop". Netop was the Narragansett word for friend, and the Narragansetts had picked up the what cheer greeting from English settlers.[1][5] It is possible that the connection between What Cheer, Iowa and What Cheer, the shibboleth of Rhode Island, was merely coincidental - the entries for these subjects are adjacent but not connected in the 1908 edition of the Encyclopedia Americana.[6]

History

Robert Forsyth, born in Kilmarnock, Scotland came to America in 1857, and made his way to Rock Island, Illinois, where he arrived penniless. He worked for most of a decade as a coal miner before coming to Petersburg, the future What Cheer. In the 1870s, he began buying coal lands around town, mostly on credit. When the railroad came to town, he leased his land to the coal companies and bought into a local drug store, eventually operating stores in What Cheer, Mystic and Jerome, Iowa.[7] Other Scots from the Kilmarnock region (Ayrshire) also settled in the area. Robert Orr came in 1875 after working in the coal mines of Colchester, Illinois. His son Alexander went on a successful career as a mine owner in Mystic.[8]

The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway built a 66 mile branch to What Cheer in 1879[9][10] With the arrival of the railroad, the What Cheer coalfield quickly became one of the most important coal mining centers in Iowa. The Starr Coal Company had over 200 employees and could produce 1,000 tons of coal per day. By 1883, they were operating three mines and took over several others.[11] When, in 1884, the Chicago and North Western Railway built its line through What Cheer to Muchakinock, there was a further expansion of mining in the area.

On Oct. 15, 1884, 500 miners in What Cheer went on strike, demanding higher wages. The established wage was 3 cents per bushel, and the miners demanded an additional half cent. The state militia was put on alert, but after 6 weeks, the miners acceped a quarter-cent raise.[12] This strike cut coal production in the What Cheer significantly.[13]

In 1886, the What Cheer Coal Company began to consolidate the local mines, buying up the Starr Coal Company and the Granger Coal Company. In 1887, they employed 1,100 miners, and they continued to operate until 1899. From 1885 to 1901, the Crescent Coal Company was an important local producer, but by 1909, there were only a few mines left in the county, all producing coal for local consumption in What Cheer.[11]

In 1891, the BCR&N Railroad's Iowa City Division, serving What Cheer, carried 38,080 tons of coal, by far the most important commodity carried by that line.[14] In 1892, mines along the BCR&N (all of which were in the What Cheer region) loaded 129,316 tons of coal.[15]

On May 1, 1891, the miners of What Cheer and many other mining towns went on strike for the eight-hour day. 1000 men walked off the job in What Cheer, but returned to work defeated on June 16.[16][17] On August 15, 1896, the miners struck again over several small grievances. The strike lasted 10 to 12 weeks.[18]

In 1907, the Volunteer Brick and Tile company was operating its own coal mine to fuel its kilns. The mine had a steam hoist to lift coal 40 feet from a coal seam from 4 to 5 feet thick. The Lee Brothers' mine in north-central What Cheer also had a steam hoist and still shipped some coal by rail. The remaining mines in the area were all small, using horse-gins to operate their hoists.[19]

Geography

What Cheer is located at 41°24′2″N 92°21′18″W / 41.40056°N 92.35500°W / 41.40056; -92.35500Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (41.400603, -92.355119)Template:GR.

The central business district and the larger part of the town is located on the north-east bank of Coal Creek, a tributary of the North fork of the Skunk River.[20]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.2 square miles (3.2 km²), of which, 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (1.63%) is water.

Demographics

Historical Populations
YearPop.±%
1880719—    
18903,246+351.5%
19002,746−15.4%
19101,720−37.4%
19201,626−5.5%
19301,310−19.4%
19401,339+2.2%
19501,119−16.4%
1960956−14.6%
1970868−9.2%
1980803−7.5%
1990762−5.1%
2000678−11.0%
Iowa Data Center

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 678 people, 307 households, and 182 families residing in the city. The population density was 559.4 people per square mile (216.3/km²). There were 345 housing units at an average density of 284.7/sq mi (110.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.38% White, 0.29% Native American, 0.15% from other races, and 1.18% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.44% of the population.

There were 307 households out of which 22.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.7% were non-families. 36.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.7% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 21.8% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 23.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,292, and the median income for a family was $36,500. Males had a median income of $30,859 versus $22,917 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,613. About 8.6% of families and 11.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable natives

References

  1. ^ a b Virgil J. Vogel, Iowa Place Names of Indian Origin, University of Iowa Press, 1983.
  2. ^ a b Tom Savage, A Dictionary of Iowa Place Names, University of Iowa Press, 2007; pages 236-237.
  3. ^ Gary Martin, Wotcher, in the Phrase Finder web site.
  4. ^ Anonymous, attributed to William H. Stennett, A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected With the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways, Chicago, 1908; page 138.
  5. ^ Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration, Iowa, A guide to the Hawkeye State, Viking Press, 1938 (reprinted as the WPA Guide to 1930's Iowa by the University of Iowa Press, 1986); page 514.
  6. ^ Fredrick C. Beach and George E. Rines, eds., What Cheer (2 articles), The Americana: a universal reference library, Vol. 16, Scientific American, New York, 1907; page 688.
  7. ^ B. F. Gue, Progressive Men of Iowa, Conway & Shaw, Des Moines, 1899; page 518.
  8. ^ Past and Present of Appanoose County, Vol. II, S. J. Clarke, Chicago, 1917; page 278-280.
  9. ^ Report of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway Company for the year ending June 30, 1880, Third Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners for the Year Ending June 30, 1880, Mills, Des Moines, 1880; page 133.
  10. ^ Travelers' Official Guide of the Railway and Steam Navigation Lines in the United States and Canada, National Railway Publication Co., New York, July 1881; pages 250-251.
  11. ^ a b James H. Lees, History of Coal Mining in Iowa, Chapter III of Annual Report, 1908, Iowa Geological Survey, 1909, page 555.
  12. ^ First Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the State of Iowa, 1884-85, Roberts, Des Moines, 1885; pages 148-149.
  13. ^ Charles A. Ashburner, Coal, Minerals Yearbook, Calender Year 1885, U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1886; page 30
  14. ^ Annual Report of the Burlington Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway Co., Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners for the Year Ending June 30, 1891, Ragsdale, Des Moines, 1891; page 330.
  15. ^ Annual Report of the Burlington Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway Co., Fifteenth Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners for the Year Ending June 30, 1892, Ragsdale, Des Moines, 1892; page 130
  16. ^ Chapter VIII, Strikes and Lockouts, Third Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics of Nebraska for 1891 and 1892 Calhoun, Lincoln, 1892; page 604.
  17. ^ James Gildroy, Biennial Report of the Second District, Fifth Biennial Report of the State Mine Inspectors to the Governor of the State of Iowa for the two years ending June 30, 1891, Ragsdale, Des Moines, 1891; page 69.
  18. ^ J. W. Miller, Biennial Report of the Second District, Eighth Biennial Report of the Mine Inspectors to the Governor of the State of Iowa for the two years ended June 30, 1897, Conway, Des Moines, 1897;page 29.
  19. ^ Henry Hinds, the Coal Deposits of Iowa, Chapter I of Annual Report, 1908, Iowa Geological Survey, 1909, page 484.
  20. ^ What Cheer, Johnson's (Revised) Universal Cyclopaedia, Vol. VIII, Thoriidae-Zytomierz, A. J. Johnson & Co, New York, 1886; page 521.

External links

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