to
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is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States and a part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 10,345 at the 2000 census; a special census taken in August 2005 counted 13,301 residents.
Altoona is home of Adventureland, an amusement park, Prairie Meadows, a horse racing track and casino, and future home to a Bass Pro Shops retail store, the first one in central Iowa, which is planned to be open in late 2009.
Altoona incorporated as a city on March 11, 1876. It is named for the Latin word for "high,"
, after surveyor Julian B. Bausman discovered that Altoona was the highest point on the Des Moines Valley Railroad between Des Moines and Keokuk.