Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Elkader, IA

Elkader is the county seat of Clayton County in northeast Iowa, and its motto is “Keystone of NE Iowa.”

Elkader was platted in 1846 by founders Timothy Davis, John Thompson, and Chester Sage, who named it for the Emir Abdelkader, the Algerian leader then resisting the French conquest of Algeria.

Elkader's sister city is Mascara, Algeria, the birthplace of its namesake, as designated by Sister Cities International.

The Elkader Keystone Bridge, completed in 1889 over the Turkey River, is said to be the largest stone arch bridge west of the Mississippi River, stretching 189 feet and built from locally quarried stone.

Elkader has nine properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Keystone Bridge, the Carter House Museum, Motor Mill, and the Elkader Opera House of 1903.

Elkader's Wilke's grocery store is said to be the oldest continuously operated grocery store west of the Mississippi River.

Elkader is the site of Iowa's lowest recorded temperature ever, -47 degrees Fahrenheit (-44 degrees Celsius), set on February 3, 1996.

The 2020 census counted 1,209 people in Elkader, living in 585 households, with a median age of 50.8 years.

Elkader's population peaked at 1,688 in 1980 and has declined in every census since.

Elkader was among the Iowa communities hit by the Great Iowa Flood of 2008, when Turkey River floodwaters reached historic levels.