Unattended Death and Biohazard Cleanup in Waterloo, IA

Waterloo is the county seat of Black Hawk County in northeastern Iowa and, with neighboring Cedar Falls, forms the Waterloo–Cedar Falls metropolitan area.

Waterloo was first settled in 1845 as Prairie Rapids Crossing, when George and Mary Melrose Hanna built a home on the east bank of the Cedar River; the city was incorporated in 1868.

The 2020 census counted 67,314 people in Waterloo, and Census Bureau figures put the city at about 29,300 households, roughly 62% of them owner-occupied.

Waterloo earned the nickname 'Factory City' in the early 1900s as foundries, mills and farm-implement factories made it known as the industrial capital of Iowa.

John Deere's Waterloo works is the company's largest tractor manufacturing operation, and the John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum in downtown Waterloo tells the story of the tractors built there.

During World War II the John Deere Waterloo Tractor Works shifted to war production, manufacturing transmissions for M4 Sherman tanks and parts for airplanes.

Waterloo's Rath Packing Company grew into the largest single-unit meatpacking facility in the United States before it closed in the 1980s.

Waterloo is the hometown of the five Sullivan brothers, who all died together when the cruiser USS Juneau was sunk at the Battle of Guadalcanal on November 13, 1942 — a loss that helped lead to the U.S. military's Sole Survivor Policy.

The Sullivan brothers are honored at the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum, part of the Grout Museum District, which began in 1934 with the collection and endowment of Waterloo financier Henry W. Grout.

In 2023 the National Park Service designated Waterloo as Iowa's American World War II Heritage City, an honor limited to one city per state.