Emergency Crime Scene and Biohazard Cleanup in Montezuma, IA

Montezuma is the county seat of Poweshiek County, a county named for Meskwaki Chief Poweshiek, who signed the treaty ending the Black Hawk War.

Montezuma was established in 1848, when local veterans of the Mexican-American War named the new town after Moctezuma II, the Aztec emperor of Mexico; it was not incorporated until 1868.

Montezuma was a major stop on the stagecoach line between Iowa City and Des Moines along the original Diamond Trail, and it later became a hub of regional railroad transport.

The Poweshiek County Courthouse on Montezuma's square was built in 1859 in the Greek Revival style, is one of the oldest courthouses still standing in Iowa, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

Montezuma is the inaugural home of the first town square Bill of Rights monument in the United States, standing on the courthouse lawn alongside an All Veterans Memorial.

The Poweshiek County Freedom Rock, painted by artist Raymond 'Bubba' Sorensen II, was completed in 2016 on the southeast corner of Montezuma's courthouse square.

Montezuma had 1,442 residents at the 2020 census, living in 615 households; the city's population peaked at 1,651 in 1990.

Montezuma is home to Brownells, the firearms parts and gunsmithing supply company founded in Montezuma and now run by CEO Pete Brownell, the founder's grandson.

The Montezuma Braves and Bravettes have won multiple Iowa state basketball titles: the boys in 1971, 1990, and 2021, and the girls in 1969 and 1970.

Three recreational lakes - Diamond Lake, Lake Ponderosa, and Lake Silverado - sit near Montezuma, along with the Fox Forest wildlife area and the Fleming Woods State Preserve, where Chief Poweshiek's people are believed to have lived.