Sioux Rapids is a city in Buena Vista County, Iowa, United States. The population was 748 at the time of the 2020 census.
History
Two early surveyors, Lane and Ray, found the area so attractive for settlement that in 1855 they illegally laid a claim and built a cabin in section 12 of Barnes Township and over-wintered there. William S. Lee was a wealthy New Yorker who came to Sioux Rapids in 1858, staked a very early claim, and soon controversially acquired around 60,000 acres of “swamp land” at 16¢ per acre. For this he was contracted to build a courthouse and construct a bridge over the Little Sioux River, but never did. He sold large amounts of this land, but after years of legal action, Lee and his purchasers lost all their claims in 1882 in a final case against them. Lee returned to New York in 1863 to educate his children, returning in 1868 to find his early claim had been “jumped” by a William Fuller. In 1870, after reversal of an earlier decision, Fuller was allowed to keep his land, in a protracted case finally decided by the US Secretary of the Interior. In 1869, Sioux Rapids was designated the county seat of Buena Vista County. In 1876, the courthouse at Sioux Rapids burned, and in 1878, the county seat was transferred to Storm Lake.
Geography
Sioux Rapids is located on the Little Sioux River.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Gustafson Lake, as well as Gabrielson Park, are located south of the town.