Map of Mount Vernon city, Iowa

Mount Vernon is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the city of Lisbon. The population was 4,527 at the time of the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Mount Vernon city overview:
Name:	Mount Vernon city
LSAD Code:	25
LSAD Description:	city (suffix)
State:	Iowa
County:	Linn County
Elevation:	879 ft (268 m)
Total Area:	3.50 sq mi (9.07 km²)
Land Area:	3.50 sq mi (9.05 km²)
Water Area:	0.01 sq mi (0.02 km²)
Total Population:	4,527
Population Density:	1,295.28/sq mi (500.07/km²)
ZIP code:	52314
Area code:	319
FIPS code:	1954840
GNISfeature ID:	0459344

Online Interactive Map

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Mount Vernon online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Mount Vernon location map. Where is Mount Vernon city?

Mount Vernon location on the U.S. Map. Where is Mount Vernon city. — Mount Vernon location on the U.S. Map.

Mount Vernon location on the Iowa map. Where is Mount Vernon city. — Location of Mount Vernon in Iowa.

History

Mount Vernon was laid out in 1847, but its origins date back to at least 1838, when it was known as Pinhook, a rest stop on Military Road, which ran between Dubuque, on the Mississippi River, and Iowa City. It was renamed Mount Vernon in 1847, after the estate of George Washington. A post office has been in operation in Mount Vernon since 1849. The Iowa Conference (Methodist) Male and Female Seminary (which later became Cornell College) was established in the town in 1853, and the Northwestern Railroad reached it in 1859, bringing new business to the town as its population expanded.

Mount Vernon Road Map

Mount Vernon city Satellite Map

Geography

Mount Vernon is located at 41°55′27″N 91°25′11″W / 41.92417°N 91.41972°W / 41.92417; -91.41972 (41.924096, -91.419679). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.50 square miles (9.06 km), of which 3.49 square miles (9.04 km) is land and 0.01 square miles (0.03 km) is water.

The most prominent geographic feature of Mount Vernon is the “mountain” on which it sits. This “mountain” is actually a paha, a ridge formed of sand and loess along the line of the prevailing wind during the ice ages. The Mount Vernon paha is roughly one mile (2 km) long and 1/4 mile (1/2 km) wide, aligned along a roughly northwest to southeast axis and rising up to 100 feet (30 m) above the surrounding landscape. Uptown Mount Vernon is aligned with the southeast end of the ridge crest, while the campus of Cornell College crowns the northwest end of the ridge.

Transportation

The town is located on significant transportation corridors, both current and historical. The main line of the Union Pacific Railroad passes through the city, and the town is located on the historic Lincoln Highway. U.S. Route 30 and Iowa Highway 1 intersect in the southern part of town. Passenger train service was once provided by the Chicago and North Western Railway from a station in the north of town. The CRANDIC interurban electric railway ran from Cedar Rapids, through downtown Mount Vernon, and ended in nearby Lisbon. The interurban ran from 1914 to 1928 and took 45 minutes to travel to the western terminus of Cedar Rapids. Nearby stops included Bertram, the Palisades and Cornell College.