Editing Exira, Iowa (section)

==History==
[[File:E.C. Wilson house in Exira, Iowa.jpg|thumb|left|The Eugene C. Wilson House stood at the northwest corner of Main and Carthage Streets in Exira, Iowa]]
[[File:John D. Bush House.jpg|thumb|John D. Bush House]]
The oldest town in Audubon County, Exira was founded in 1857. The town was named for Exira Eckman, daughter of Judge John Eckman from [[Ohio]], who agreed to purchase a lot of property in the town if the town was named for his daughter.<ref name="Andrews1915">{{cite book|author=Henry Franklin Andrews|title=History of Audubon County, Iowa: Its People, Industries, and Institutions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qlc0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA256|year=1915|publisher=Brookhaven Press|pages=256}}</ref>

The main industries in and around Exira are agriculture and [[agribusiness]]. Exira has a school, completed in 1959. There are four churches in the town.

On July 2, 1958, Exira was ravaged by the flooding of the East Nishnabotna River. Nineteen persons in the area lost their lives, 75 homes were destroyed and almost 20 businesses in the western part of Exira were damaged.

Exira is well known for its [[Fourth of July]] celebrations, which have been celebrated since 1861. The morning parade and the evening fireworks draw thousands of visitors to the town. Other attractions in the area include the Plow in the Oak Park, south of Exira on Highway 71, and Littlefield Recreation Area, {{convert|6|mi|km}} southeast of Exira, which features a {{convert|70|acre|m2|adj=on}} lake, [[prairie]] restoration area and a live [[bison]] pair.