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==History== [[File:VanBurenCoIowa1.jpg|thumb|[[Van Buren County Courthouse (Iowa)|Van Buren County courthouse]] in Keosauqua. The building, the oldest courthouse in the state, is on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].]] Keosauqua was laid out in 1839.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/historyvanburen00cogoog | title=The History of Van Buren County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, &c | publisher=Western Historical Company | year=1878 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyvanburen00cogoog/page/n451 467]}}</ref> The word Keosauqua derives from the [[Meskwaki]] and [[Sauk people|Sauk]] name for the [[Des Moines River]], "Ke-o-saw-qua", which literally translates as "Bend in the River".<ref>[[Isaac Galland]], 1840, ''Galland's Iowa emigrant: containing a map, and general descriptions of Iowa'', p 6-7.</ref> The [[Hotel Manning]], a three-story relic from the Des Moines River's steamboat days, is Keosauqua's most notable landmark. Its unique Steamboat Gothic architecture mimics riverboats of the mid-1800s. The hotel was placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in April 1973. In 2017, community supporters, organized as Engage Keosauqua, purchased the hotel. Over the next couple of years, through contributions and grants, they made repairs and updated improvements to bring the hotel back to its former grandeur. The Hotel Manning today continues to be a centerpiece of southeastern Iowa culture and history. Also located in Keosauqua are many other notable historic sites. The 1847 [[Franklin Pearson House|Pearson House]] was a stop on the [[Underground Railroad]]. The [[Van Buren County Courthouse (Iowa)|Van Buren County Courthouse]], built in 1843 in the Greek Revival style, is the oldest in continuous use in the state, and second-oldest in the United States. It is also on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. The courthouse was the scene for the murder trial of William McCauley. A guilty verdict led to his subsequent demise at, appropriately, Hangman's Hollow. It was the first legal hanging in Iowa history. When [[Brigham Young]] and his followers were exiled from their base at Nauvoo, Illinois in 1846, their caravan crossed the Des Moines River at Ely's Ford, just upriver from Keosauqua on what is now known as the [[Mormon Trail]]. Van Buren County native [[Voltaire Twombly]] received the Congressional [[Medal of Honor]] for actions taken at Ft. Donelson during the American Civil War. His post-war pursuits included a stint as mayor of Keosauqua and, as a businessman there, he built a stone building on the main street that remains to this day. The 1839 [[Honey War]], so named because three trees with beehives were cut down in the process, was fought south of Keosauqua in what is now [[Lacey-Keosauqua State Park]]. The event was a border disagreement between Iowa and Missouri. Before it was over, militias from both sides faced each other, though the dispute was ultimately resolved without a shot being fired. Lacey-Keosauqua is one of the largest state parks in Iowa and was built by the [[Civil Conservation Corps]] during the Great Depression. The lake bathhouse and lodge stone work, from stone quarried within the park, remain outstanding testament to their work. Keosauqua hosts its annual Fall Festival the second full weekend in October.<ref name=officialsite>{{cite web|url= http://keosauqua.com/index2.htm|title=''The Village of Keosauqua Iowa''|publisher= Affordable-Website-Solutions|access-date=2011-01-17}}</ref>
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