TimManBlog

Le Mars: Iowa’s Ice Cream City

August 30, 2023
(Photographs and memories from August 16, 2012)
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Once again, I’ve found a little Iowa town that looks like a postcard. Miniature ice cream statues dot the sidewalks in town.

This is Le Mars, Iowa, population 10,571, the seat of Plymouth County, located in the northwest corner of the state. The town was founded in 1871 along the new Iowa Falls and Sioux City Railroad Line, and its name was taken from an acronym of the first names of eight women among the first settlers. These days, it’s the home of Blue Bunny Ice Cream. Wells Enterprises operates a 900,000-square-foot plant with a 12-story refrigeration tower to support production. The ice cream factory offers tours. 

Le Mars claims to be the Ice Cream capital of the World.  Nice place, right?  How would you have liked growing up in an ice cream town?  How about such a town as this as a place to raise your kids? 

Le Mars places plaster ice cream cone statues along their downtown sidewalks and lampposts the way other towns show off their high school mascots. It’s a festive place.

Downtown Le Mars, Iowa, has several blocks of 19th Century buildings.

After some searching, I located the county courthouse three blocks east and two blocks south of the center of town. The red sandstone Plymouth County Courthouse was built in 1901 of carved red blocks. This style was very popular then, and the stone was likely quarried in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  It’s three stories of magnificence, including red pillars.  The building sits in the middle of a sloping lawn surrounded by tall sycamores. 

The main entrance is a bit higher than the street in front of it, so 50 feet of front lawn slopes downward from the door, reinforcing the idea that the courts of law occupy an elevated place in society.

It’s a walk of five or six blocks from the courthouse to the central business district in town.  In almost every Iowa town I’ve stopped in, I see residential streets lined with large white wooden homes.  Each has two stories: an attic, a front porch, a green front lawn, a sidewalk, and a driveway.  Tall sycamores, maples, and oaks line the paved streets, shading homes and streets alike.  The houses are old, and the trees are old and mature. They’ve survived the weather across many storm seasons.

I was hungry for dinner and went into Habitué, a Coffeehouse & Creperie.  Their apple, bacon, and Swiss crepe were delicious.  The decor was brand new and featured bible verses painted on the wall.  That ensures it will be a quiet place. I ate in a little courtyard patio behind the store, on a wrought iron table beside a waterfall along the courtyard wall.  After eating, I wrote these notes while seated in a brown leather chair, into which I sank a foot when sitting down.

I think I’ll have that ice cream now.  Maybe I’ll look for some For Sale signs.

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A list of all photo posts from the American County Seats series in TimManBlog can be found here.

All photos were taken by the author on August 16, 2012.

My lifetime hobby is traveling to all of America’s county courthouses, and each month I post about a visit to a scenic or interesting county seat. It’s a hobby, and donations are greatly appreciated to help cover my costs.
Thanks,
Tim