Editing Hedrick, Iowa (section)

==History==
In 1882, the [[Burlington and Western Railway]] a [[narrow gauge]] line, and its competitor, the [[Iowa Central Railway]], built competing east–west lines through the area.  These crossed the [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad|Rock Island]] tracks here, so it was a natural location for a station and town.<ref name=LotzFranzen>David Lotz and Charles Franzen, 'Rails to a County Seat', The Print Shop, Washington Iowa, 1989; pages 37, 47-52.</ref>

Hedrick was incorporated on April 23, 1883.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.city-data.com/city/Hedrick-Iowa.html |title= Hedrick, Iowa |publisher= City-data.com|access-date=August 31, 2012}}</ref> It was named for General Hedrick.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n152 153]}}</ref>

The Burlington and Western was widened to [[standard gauge]] in 1902 and merged into the [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad|Chicago, Burlington and Quincy]] a year later.  The [[Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway|Minneapolis and St. Louis]] took over the Iowa Central around the same time, and the Burlington line was abandoned in 1934.<ref name=LotzFranzen />

By 1991 several businesses in the community's main street closed, and the economy had declined. The school serving the town closed that year.<ref name=Vobejda>{{cite news|author=Vobejda, Barbara|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/03/25/main-street-faces-economic-triage/e274539d-b4e9-48e0-9cbf-4520dee70f5a/|title=MAIN STREET FACES 'ECONOMIC TRIAGE'|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|date=1991-03-25|access-date=2018-06-19}}</ref>

In 2023, the city was struck by an EF-4 rated [[Tornado outbreak of March 31 – April 1, 2023|tornado]].