Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Long Grove, IA

Long Grove is a city in northern Scott County, Iowa, about fifteen miles north of the Quad Cities, and it takes its name from the long, narrow strip of timber that stretched through the area when settlers arrived.

Brothers Alexander and James Brownlie settled the Long Grove area in August 1838 after following the Mississippi and Wapsipinicon rivers west, buying their timber-ridge claim for $160.

A stage road from Davenport to DeWitt and Dubuque once passed through Long Grove, and the railroad reached the village in the late 1860s, stopping at what was first called Noel Station in honor of pioneer John T. Noel.

Although settlement dates to 1838, Long Grove was not formally platted until the 1890s.

In December 1921 the Stockman's Savings Bank in Long Grove was robbed, and the two suspects were killed by a posse immediately after attempting the holdup — one of the most dramatic episodes in the city's history.

Long Grove's claim to fame is its Strawberry Festival, held the second Sunday of each June, which kicks off with the Strawberry Stampede footraces and a parade and features local strawberry farmers selling their crop.

The Alexander Brownlie Sod House on the city's north side dates from Iowa's prairie days of the 1830s, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is open for tours.

Long Grove's population was 838 at the 2020 census, living in 306 households, up from 597 in 2000 as new subdivisions such as Eastwood, Lancer Meadows, and Swan Lake have grown around the old townsite.

Elementary students in Long Grove attend Alan Shepard Elementary School in town, part of the North Scott Community School District, while older students attend North Scott Junior High and North Scott High School in nearby Eldridge.

Just northeast of Long Grove lies the 1,280-acre Scott County Park and the Walnut Grove Pioneer Village, a re-created 1860s crossroads settlement of 18 historic buildings including a church, a bank, and a train depot.