Marshalltown

Marshalltown, a city and the county-seat of Marshall county, Iowa, U.S.A., near the Iowa River and about 60 m. N.E. of Des Moines. Pop. (1890), 8914; (1900), 11,544, of whom 1590 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 13,374. Marshalltown is served by the Chicago & North-Western, the Chicago Great Western, and the Iowa Central railways, the last of which has machine shops here. At Marshalltown are the Iowa soldiers' home, supported in part by the Federal Government, and St. Mary's institute, a Roman Catholic commercial and business school. The city is situated in a rich agricultural region, and is a market for grain, neat cattle, horses and swine. There are miscellaneous manufactures, and in 1905 the factory product was valued at $3,090,312. The municipality owns and operates its waterworks and its electric-lighting plant. Marshalltown, named in honour of Chief Justice John Marshall, was laid out in 1853, and became the county-seat in 1860. It was incorporated as a town in 1863, and was chartered as a city in 1868.