Boom Town Burris City: Iowa Time Machine January 28, 1857

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 28, 1857, the Iowa Legislature officially incorporated the boom town of Burris City at the confluence of the Iowa and Mississippi rivers. The ink on that incorporation document was barely dry when nature delivered its verdict on Nathan Burris's dream.

The incorporation of Burris City on January 28, 1857, represented the pinnacle of Nathan Burris's ambitions. The special legislative act formalized what had begun two years earlier when Burris first platted 5,000 lots on the north bank of the Iowa River. Burris himself had borrowed thousands of dollars on the faith that his creation would succeed. He planned to grade the entire townsite above the high-water mark, shipping in dirt during the winter months to raise the elevation. Property owners would share the expense once they saw the town's success. Old settlers in the region knew the land was prone to flooding, but Burris dismissed their concerns. He had engineering plans and eastern money.

Iowa in the 1850s was experiencing explosive growth as settlers poured into the young state. Burris City occupied what seemed like the perfect strategic location at the junction between two rivers, a natural gathering point for water traffic. Eastern capitalists backed Burris's vision with substantial investments. The town boasted modern amenities that would make any established city envious. The Ellsworth Hotel rose as a two-story brick building with marble-floored billiard rooms and a large basement saloon, proclaimed the finest structure in Louisa County. Brick yards operated at full capacity. Sawmills and planing mills worked around the clock. Business lots commanded premium prices as merchants rushed to establish themselves in what they believed would become a major commercial center.

All the rains in 1858 arrived heavily and continuously. Both the Mississippi and Iowa Rivers rose simultaneously, a combination locals had never witnessed. Water reached six to eight feet deep in Burris City's main streets, turning buildings into death traps. Legend claims 14 victims drowned in the Ellsworth Hotel's basement saloon, while the cook found a 10-pound catfish in the kitchen range. The flood destroyed embankments, filled wells with sand, and created widespread demoralization. Today, absolutely nothing marks the location of Burris City except a levee, a small plaque, and a few pilings where steamboats once docked. #Iowa #OTD #History #GhostTown #Abandonded