Geography of Fort Dodge
Fort Dodge, Iowa, the seat of Webster County. It lies on the Des Moines River 70 miles (113 km) northwest of Des Moines, in a farming and mining area. Fort Dodge has vast gypsum quarries and ranks among the world's leading producers of gypsum products. Meatpacking is also a major industry.
Fort Dodge was settled in 1854 on the site of an abandoned fort and was incorporated in 1869. Gypsum from its deposits was used in 1868 to carve the “Cardiff Giant,” a human figure accepted as a prehistoric object until the hoax was revealed.
Population: 25,136.