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is a town in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,663 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The history of this region is filled with stories of the early Midwestern Settlers from Kansas, Illinois and Iowa to the French Canadians (Cajuns) to Jean Lafitte's pirates along the Old Spanish Trail. The community of Iowa was developed in the mid 1800s.
The railroad that cut through this country brought settlers who were lured to the prairie land for rice farming, cattle raising and later oil fields. Much of southwest Louisiana was developed by the North American Land and Timber Co. Seaman A. Knapp, president of the Iowa State College of Agriculture, was engaged in 1885 to demonstrate the suitability of the region for rice production. Knapp attracted a number of Iowans to settle the area. The settlers were lured to this area by advertisements published in newspapers in the midwestern states.
Iowa experienced a growth boom when oil was struck in 1930 and oil companies came to try their luck in the Iowa Oil and Gas Fields. Even though this was the Great Depression era, Iowa thrived as more men came to work in the oil fields.
Today, oil continues to be a vital part of the town's economy, as are farming and cattle.