Iron Post
N end of Main St., New Albin, IAThe Iron Post was important to the early settlement of the territories of Iowa and Minnesota. It was the reference point for the running and marking of the northern border of the State of Iowa ordered through an act of Congress on March 3, 1849, to help solve boundary problems between Iowa and Minnesota.
In 1849 Captain Thomas Lee place the post at New Albin, Iowa, which was the site of his determination of North latitude 43 degrees 30 minutes by astronomical observation. 43 degrees 30 minutes had been designated the northern border of Iowa by Congress on August 4, 1846.
This survey line was a correction line for townships previously established from below in order to avoid double corners on the state line. It served in addition as a practical surveying base for the vast public domain north of it and far to the west of its terminus at the Big Sioux River.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.