Mason City, IA 50401    

Mason City, Iowa Criminal Record Search

Mason City is a city in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 29,172 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cerro Gordo CountyGR6. North Iowa Area Community College is located here.

Mason City is the birthplace and childhood home of composer and playwright Meredith Willson. The fictional city of River City, Iowa in his musical The Music Man is loosely based on Mason City. Willson's birthplace has been restored as a tourist attraction and is part of the Music Man Square complex that includes a plaza with a bronze statue of Willson in a band major's uniform.

Puppeteer Bil Baird grew up in Mason City; his creations were featured in The Sound of Music and are now exhibited at the MacNider Art Museum. Also from Mason City were book designer, author and concert impresario Merle Armitage; and Steven Clay, publisher of Granary Books (New York).

After a concert at the Surf Ballroom in nearby Clear Lake, IA, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash after taking off from the Mason City Municipal Airport.

Mason City is widely known for its sizable amount of Prairie School architecture, the largest concentration in one location outside of Oak Park, Illinois. The Rock Glen and Rock Crest districts along Willow Creek feature homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Burley Griffin. Wright's Stockman House has been restored and is open to the public. Also, Wright's Park Inn Hotel, which influenced Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius and other European Modern architects, and which is the only remaining hotel in the world designed by him still standing, is in the process of being restored.

Mason City is home to the Iowa Traction Railroad. The IATR is one of the last surviving electric interurban railroads in the U. S., and the only one that still uses electric locomotives to haul freight in regular service.

The largest employer is Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa. Other major industry includes door manufacturer Curries/Graham Company and the Kraft Foods plant that produces the nation's entire supply of refrigerated ready-to-eat Jell-O gelatin and Jell-O pudding snacks. Mason City is also a major production center for Portland Cement.

Mason City has some history of minor league sports teams despite its relatively small size. The North Iowa Outlaws junior hockey team began play in the North American Hockey League in 2005. The former North Iowa Huskies played in the United States Hockey League until 1999. Also, the Mason City Bats of the very short lived Great Central League played baseball here in 1994.

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