A publication of The Messenger • 1 •

Mon-Fri 8:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m. Sat 8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. • Sun 9 a.m. -1 p.m.

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Webster County Visitors Guide 2009

Welcome to Fort Dodge and Webster CountyOn behalf of our more

than 40,000 city andcounty residents, I offeryou a warm welcome toour community. We areexcited to have youhere.

You will find ourgreatest natural resourceis the spirit that lives inour community. Our citi-zens are friendly, eagerto help you and willstrive to make you feelat home. Talk to FortDodgers and you willsee great pride and an at-

titude that says, “Come, and enjoy this quality of lifemany only dream of.”

Our educational system is ranked among the high-est in America. We have two high schools and a veryfast-growing, progressive community college. Wehave a very active sports community as evidenced byour many soccer, baseball, football, basketball, tennis

and golf course facilities. Our regional health andsenior living centers are world-class facilities rarelyfound in communities our size.

To witness our community’s commitment to edu-cation and the arts, please stop by our new $5 mil-lion library. Visit our city-owned art museum with amultimillion dollar, world-renowned art collection.While walking in our many parks and trail systems,you will experience a quality of life only offered inFort Dodge.

Enjoy with us the fresh air we breathe and ourwide- open spaces. We have the richest soil on earth.This soil is literally growing energy and feeding theworld. You can grow your own vegetables or pur-chase fuel with ethanol grown from our fields ofgrain. We have an abundance of clean water to drinkand use for recreation.

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to ourcommunity and hope your experience here bringsyou back soon.

Terry J. Lutz,Mayor of Fort Dodge

• 2 •

Webster County has... Outdoor Activities

• Gypsum City Off Highway Vehicle Park (ATV Park) • Mineral City Speedway • River Front Speedway - 1 ⁄ 2 Scale Track for Radio Control Cars • Equestrian Trails at Brushy Creek State Recreation Area • 5 Golf Courses • Water Trails (Des Moines River, Lizard Creek & Soldier Creek) • Nature Trails • Oleson Park Zoo

Camping • Brushy Creek State Recreation Area (No Wake Lake) • Dolliver State Park • Kennedy Park • Webster County Fairgrounds

Sporting Venues • Harlan & Hazel Rogers Sports Complex

Fine Arts • Karl King Municipal Band • Fort Dodge Area Symphony • Fort Dodge Choral Society • Harmony Brigade Barbershop Chorus • Sonshine Singers • Hawkeye Community Theater • Blanden Memorial Art Museum • Shellabration/Bandshell Outdoor Concerts • Lizard Creek Blues

Community Events and Venues • Couch Freak Boogie Skydiving Event • Dayton Rodeo • Fall Fest • Frontier Days • Fort Museum & Frontier Village • International Dragon Boat Races • Webster County Fair • Apple Fest - Community Orchards

ExploreFort Dodge &

Webster County

We Love Company! www.fortdodgecvb.com

www.northcentraliowasports.com Fort Dodge CVB

fdconvention@frontiernet.net 1406 Central Avenue, Fort Dodge, IA 50501

515-573-4282 Toll Free 888-573-4282

www.fortdodgechamber.com Fort Dodge Chamber of Commerce

info@fortdodgechamber.com 1406 Central Avenue, Fort Dodge, IA 50501

515-955-5500

www.fortdodgecvb.com 515-573-4282

• 4 •

It’s impossible to appreciate thepresent in rural Webster Countywithout taking a few glances at the

past. More than 100 years ago, as agroup of soldiers crossed a creek, theycame upon a badger — an animal theyhad never seen before. The feisty badgerscared the soldiers’ dogs, but didn’t de-ter families from settling in the area inthe mid-1800s.

And badgers couldn’t keep familiesfrom living in the town, which was laternamed after the determined animal, aswas the creek, a township and a lake.

Badger has three city parks, whichinclude a baseball diamond, tennis courtand basketball. There is a multiple-usecounty park, John F. Kennedy MemorialPark, four miles southwest of Badger,offering fishing, boating, camping, pic-nic and playground areas.

The Lakeside Municipal Golf Courseis adjacent to the park. The Des MoinesRiver is four miles west of Badger andeight miles north of Badger is the ThreeRivers Bike-Snowmobile Trail.

One of Barnum’s claims to fame alsoinvolves an animal, but a much differentcreature indeed.

The entire population of the commu-nity was once given tickets to the Bar-num and Bailey Circus. In 1993, to cel-ebrate the issuance of commemorativecircus postage stamps, everyone in townwas given a chance to attend the circusin Des Moines.

Accompanying the tickets, much to thetownspeople’s delight and surprise, wasthe largest visitor ever to set foot in Bar-num — an elephant named King Tusk.

Of course, King Tusk isn’t necessarilythe most famous visitor in Barnum. Afterknocking over the nearby Knierim bank inCalhoun County in 1934, Bonnie Parkerand Clyde Barrow camped across the rail-road tracks.

A railroad town in the truest sense ofthe word, Barnum was laid out by theIowa Falls and Sioux City Railroad in1875. It was named after a U.S. senatorfrom Connecticut who, at that time,owned vast tracts of land in the area.

Callender, another railroad town,can also claim a famous large animal inits midst. One of the town’s most fa-mous residents was Brooklyn Supreme,the “largest horse in the world.” RalphFogelman, who lived near Callender,housed the horse and was his handler.

The horse weighed 3,200 pounds, worea 40-inch collar and stood 19 1/2 handshigh. “Brookie,” as he was known, was

exhibited all over the country from 1935to 1948. When he died, he wasburied in his stall onthe Fogel-manfarm.

Yetanotherrailroadtown,Clare,packs awhole lot ofheritage intoa small pack-age. Most ofthe early resi-dents, beingfrom CountyClare, Ireland,decided to give anod to theirhomeland. And,many of the peopleof Clare today aretheir descendants.

The earliest resi-dents lived in log and sodhomes. During the mid-19th century, the Pre-emption Act gave settlersa chance to buy land at$1.25 an acre.

This was a real boost toClare’s population. Al-though the town’s popula-tion has shrunk, it remainsbig in everything thatmatters.

A bit about Webster CountyWebster County Visitors Guide 2009

• 26 •

Webster County Webster County Webster County

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