Sabula is a city in Jackson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 506 at the 2020 census.
Sabula is the site of Iowa's only island city. The island has a beach and a campground, as well as a harbor with boat docks.
Sabula is the northern terminus of U.S. Route 67.
History
Sabula was established in 1835 when, according to legend, Isaac Dorman crossed the river from the Illinois side on a log and decided to settle on the present site of Sabula. Sabula is a name of French origin meaning "sand"; this refers to the sandy soil of the area.
In the late 19th century the principal industries in the community included a large "pearl button" factory—which produced buttons from clam shells harvested from large clam beds located in the river adjacent to the shoreline. (The factory is no longer there.) The thriving community also supported a large hog slaughtering industry.
The community did not actually become an island until the lock and dam system was constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers on the upper Mississippi in the 1930s. The construction of Lock and Dam No. 13 between Clinton, Iowa and Fulton, Illinois in 1939 left the lowlands west of the townsite permanently flooded, creating the "Island City," as the town is now known.
Geography
thumb|[[Dale Gardner Veterans Memorial Bridge between Sabula and Savanna, Illinois]]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Sabula is connected to Iowa via a roadway that runs between two lakes and with Savanna, Illinois, by another roadway that leads to a bridge that crosses the Mississippi River.