Adair is a city in Adair and Guthrie counties of Iowa in the United States. The population was 791 at the 2020 census.
History
thumb|left|Adair City Hall (2010)
The Rock Island Railroad was built through the area in 1868, which led to the area being known as Summit Cut. This was in reference to the ridge that forms the watershed divide between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The town officially became known as Adair on August 20, 1872, when it was incorporated with the county. The town is named after General John Adair, a general in the War of 1812 who later became the eighth governor of Kentucky. Adair was the scene of the first successful train robbery in the American West when on July 21, 1873, the James-Younger Gang (led by Jesse James) took US $3,000 from the Rock Island Express after derailing it southwest of the town. The derailment killed the engineer.
A rare F5 tornado occurred near this town on June 27, 1953, although the damage occurred closer to the town of Anita. One person was killed and two others were injured.
Adair is recognizable from Interstate 80 by its tall yellow "smiley-face" water tower. Its roadsign warmly greets visitors with, "Welcome to Adair; it'll make you smile". Some of the local businesses incorporate the smiley-face tower image into their company logos.
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Adair is mentioned in the 2013 Stephen King novel Doctor Sleep.
In February 2024, Adair Police Chief Brad Wendt was convicted on 11 of 15 federal charges, for conspiring to make false statements to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and illegal possession of a machine gun. "Authorities say he bought machine guns for the police department, then sold them for an almost $80,000 personal profit. Trial evidence showed he bought machine guns for his gun store, including a .50-caliber machine gun he mounted to his own armored Humvee".
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.