City of Gladbrook, Iowa

GLADBROOK CITY HALL
319 – 2nd Street
Gladbrook, Iowa 50635
641-473-2582
clerk@gladbrook.org
www.gladbrook.org
Hours: Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Council meets 2nd Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m.

GLADBROOK PUBLIC LIBRARY
301 – 2nd Street
Gladbrook, IA  50635
641-473-3236
gladbrooklibrary@gladbrook.org
Hours: Monday – Friday 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

GLADBROOK CITY PARK
Location: 409 Washington Street

CITY LEADERSHIP
Mayor Trudi Scott
Council:
Roger Luehring
Steve Willer
Mark Fink
Scott Schmidt

THE STORY OF GLADBROOK, IOWA

When two of the founders of Gladbrook went to Chicago to complete the paperwork for the location, they were given the privilege of naming the town to be located on their land.  After much discussion, a gentleman asked what was worthwhile in Iowa?  The men answered they had a nice brook and were glad they had it!  “There you have it—GLADBROOK”, and thus the name.

In the early days, as with today, Gladbrook is an agriculture-rich community.  Some of the finest soil is located around Gladbrook, making it very favorable for farming and many agriculture-based businesses in the community.  It  also boasts of a school system with graduation rates significantly above state and national averages. The Gladbrook Corn Carnival is an annual festival with a rich tradition of drawing crowds as much as 10 times the size of the town’s population.

The community is also very civic-minded as is evidenced by the active veterans community, which recently completed a Veteran’s Memorial Park on the eastern edge of town. A large community volunteer base is also gathering daily at The City Center  which houses the Gladbrook Museum, City Hall, the movie theater, and the Matchstick Marvels Tourist Center.

Matchstick Marvels, the creations of local artist Pat Acton, is a popular family friendly tourist attraction garnering international attention for creations featured by pop sensationalists like Ripley’s Believe-It-Or-Not. Gladbrook is the only place where these exhibits can be seen before many of them gets shipped to different collectors and museums all over the world.