Cherokee Iowa

Cherokee (pop. 5,253) is a progressive city located in the beautiful Little Sioux River Valley in northwest Iowa.  The county seat of Cherokee County, we are located at the junction of U. S. Hwy. 59 and State Hwy. 3, about 60 miles northeast of Sioux City and 60 miles southwest of the Iowa Great Lakes region.

We are home to a wide variety of business and industry and boast a beautiful downtown area with numerous retail shops and services.  Cherokee has something to offer everyone!  We have a beautiful park system with full hook-up camping sites, a nine-hole, challenging golf course, a new aquatic center, and a three-screen movie theatre for your enjoyment.  We boast an excellent school system and are home to a satellite campus of Western Iowa Tech Community College.  Medical care is excellent with Cherokee Regional Medical Center as well as several medical clinics, chiropractors, optometric and dental offices serving the needs of the community.

Cultural, musical and artistic events are prevalent in Cherokee.  Check out a performance of the Cherokee Symphony or a Cherokee Community Theatre production, you will not be disappointed!  Musicians frequently perform downtown at The Gathering Place, Cherokee's premier performance studio.  We are the home of the Jazz & Blues Festival, occurring over a weekend in January.  The Sanford Museum and Planetarium has exhibits and activities and features special educational events throughout the year.

History

The story of human habitation in the Little Sioux River Valley began thousands of years ago. Archaeologist have established the existence of the Mill Creek Indian culture north of Cherokee in 1200 A.D. In the time of the early French traders, the river was important in the fur trade, and was a route of the Plains Indians to the pipestone quarries on Minnesota.The area’s geological history is just as fascinating. The three glacial advances of the western limit of the Wisconsin glacial period are marked at different points in the valley. A watchful eye may discover clues of the area’s glacial past as several fossils, agates and other interesting rocks can be found along the sandbars within the river. The Little Sioux River winds through Cherokee County, making it one of the most scenic in western Iowa. The river and its tributaries have carved deep into the glacial till. Many high points afford a beautiful view, best of all is seen from the top of Pilot Rock, a huge boulder of red Sioux quartzite left by the last glaciations. On a hill south of Cherokee, the rock served as a guidepost and meeting place for Indians and white explorers and has given the Little Sioux the name of “Woven Rock River.”

Cherokee County was one of the 49 divided from Indian Treaty lands by the Third Iowa Assembly in 1851. The lawmen picked names that had no connection with the area or with its history.Pioneers made their homes in the fertile, wooded valley before venturing to develop the open plains. After scouting the area in 1856, Robert Perry picked a spot by the river in Pilot township for the county’s first home. While getting supplies at Sergeant Bluff, he met two scouts of the Milford, Massachusetts Emigration Company. They were seeing land for their members whose wagons were close behind. After Perry’s vivid description of “his valley,” the scouts walked up the Little Sioux River. They chose a site on the west side of the river, northeast of the present city of Cherokee. Enough land was preempted so that each of the thirteen Milford colonists who came in 1856, two of them with families of children, had a town lot, a wood lot and acreage for farming. Another group of ten men led by George Banister settled several miles south the same summer.

The first town called Cherokee, later known as 'Old Cherokee', was founded in December 1857 just north of the present county seat on the west side of the Little Sioux River. The first winter was cold and food was scarce. Roving Indians visited the cabins and were amazed at the number of whites who had invaded their hunting grounds. They demanded food and killed some of the settlers’ livestock. As they went further north and found more people, the red men became angry. Perhaps the most colorful story of this conflict is that the Sioux Indian Chief Inkpaduta and the chain of events that led to the Spirit Lake Massacre. Inkpaduta and his band began their journey northward near Smithland, Iowa in the winter of 1857. This renegade band of Indians destroyed settlements all along the Little Sioux River, including the Abbie Gardner Sharp cabin on Lake Okoboji where today a log cabin stands as a memorial near the site of the raid. When reports of the Spirit Lake Massacre were later received in Cherokee, many settlers deserted the village. Later a stockade enclosing a log blockhouse was erected as a protection against the hostile Sioux Indians and settlers became less fearful.During the Civil War, many county men enlisted and their families withdrew to more populated areas. After the war they came back to their land and homes.The promise of a railroad from Fort Dodge to Sioux City running through Cherokee brought many businesses and professional people during the late 1860’s. The railroad was finally completed in 1870. It did not cross the Little Sioux where expected, although speculators had built up quite a town near the bridge built by the early colonists. In the spring of 1870, these folks moved about a mile and a half to the new depot the railroad had set up, dragging houses, shops, and their county courthouse with them. There were not over ten houses in “New Cherokee” prior to that time.

Garbage & Recycling

We now have recycling totes (18-gallon) and wheeled carts (65-gallon) available for purchase! Totes are $3.00 each and carts are $25.00 each. Carts have a 10-year warranty. Please contact City Hall if you are interested in either of these. If you want a cart, let us know and we will contact Sanitary Services and have one dropped off at your residence. If you wish you may have the charge added to your water bill. This is a one-time charge. You can take the cart with you if you move within city limits but we ask that you leave it at the residence if you are moving outside of town.The City of Cherokee contracts with Sanitary Services (712-225-2313) to pick up garbage and recyclables. Regular garbage is limited to 132 gallons (about four kitchen size garbage bags) per week. Residential garbage is picked up on either Mondays or Tuesdays, depending on which side of town you are located. Excess garbage over the limit will be picked up if there is a sticker attached to each item/bag. Stickers are available for purchase at City Hall, at a cost of $1.00 per sticker.

Appliances, hazardous waste, batteries, tires, and large amounts of construction materials will not be picked up. You will need to take these items directly to the Cherokee County Landfill at 1805 Linden Street.For single and two-family dwellings, garbage is billed at a rate of $13.50 per month, on your water bill. There is a landfill charge of $16.25 monthly that is also billed on your water bill.

Recycling is mandatory for all residents and businesses in Cherokee. Recyclables will be picked up on either Thursdays or Fridays, depending on your location. ALL RECYCLABLES CAN BE PUT IN THE SAME CONTAINER - THERE IS NO NEED TO SEPARATE THEM BY TYPE! There is no limit on the amount of recyclables that can be set out for pickup.

105.07 SEPARATION OF RECYCLING MATERIALS. Every customer disposing of solid waste or recyclable materials shall separate recyclable material from garbage, rubbish and other solid waste. This applies to the owner or occupant of each residence or residential unit and the owner or occupant of each nonresidential agricultural, commercial or industrial premises authorized to place waste in the County landfill. Accepted recyclable materials may differ as conditions warrant.YARD WASTE Yard waste is normally picked up three times in the spring, and three times in the fall by Sanitary Services.  Yard waste pickup dates are published in the newspaper, put on the water bills, and posted in the city newsletter and on the city website.  Branches must be bundled in lengths of no greater than 4'.  Yard waste will not be picked up if placed in plastic bags!  You can use boxes, paper sacks or garbage cans, and yard waste is to be placed in the same place where you put your garbage/recyclables.