Across the Mississippi River via an austere modern suspension bridge, Burlington was the frontier capital of Iowa, founded in 1808 and holding many Victorian homes and commercial buildings. Awarded the “Great American Main Street” status from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2004, Burlington also has a riverboat casino, a great Maid-Rite diner (112 W. Division Street), and very busy downtown rail yards—home base of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad conglomerate.
At Niota, the ghost of a town that marks the next crossing south of Burlington, a nifty old double-decker swing bridge (trains below, cars on top) crosses the Mississippi, landing on the west bank next to a huge old state prison at the historic town of Fort Madison.
