Map of Van Meter city

Van Meter is a city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States, situated along the Raccoon River. The population was 1,484 at the time of the 2020 census. Van Meter is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Van Meter city overview:
Name:	Van Meter city
LSAD Code:	25
LSAD Description:	city (suffix)
State:	Iowa
County:	Dallas County
Elevation:	873 ft (266 m)
Total Area:	2.49 sq mi (6.45 km²)
Land Area:	2.47 sq mi (6.39 km²)
Water Area:	0.02 sq mi (0.06 km²)
Total Population:	1,484
Population Density:	601.30/sq mi (232.12/km²)
ZIP code:	50261
Area code:	515
FIPS code:	1980445
GNISfeature ID:	0462534
Website:	www.vanmeteria.gov

Online Interactive Map

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

Van Meter location map. Where is Van Meter city?

Van Meter location on the U.S. Map. Where is Van Meter city. — Van Meter location on the U.S. Map.

Van Meter location on the Iowa map. Where is Van Meter city. — Location of Van Meter in Iowa.

History

Van Meter was laid out as a town in 1869. The city was named for Jacob Rhodes Van Meter and his family, Dutch settlers from Meteren, the Netherlands. Van Meter was incorporated on December 29, 1877.

The Van Meter Visitor

In September and October 1903, there were multiple instances of people claiming to have seen a winged, bat-like creature in and around Van Meter. The roughly nine-foot-tall being, which has since been dubbed the Van Meter Visitor, was reported to be able to shoot light from the horn situated on its forehead and be unaffected by bullets. Clarence Dunn, one of the witnesses, had even made a plaster cast of three-toed footprints it left behind. A smaller, similar being sometimes accompanied it. After a community-led confrontation, the being disappeared after about four days, supposedly into the nearby coal mine. Claims of witnessing bat-like creatures or phenomena have continued, including into the 2010s.

To commemorate the sightings, a Van Meter Visitor Festival transpires annually around the anniversary of the events.

Van Meter Road Map

Van Meter city Satellite Map

Geography

Van Meter’s longitude and latitude coordinates in decimal form are 41.531505, -93.955338).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.30 square miles (3.37 km), of which 1.28 square miles (3.32 km) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km) is water.

Van Meter is situated west of Des Moines, just south of Interstate 80.