Keokuk, IA Homes for Rent

The Mississippi and Des Moines rivers meet in Keokuk, Iowa's southernmost city on the tripoint between Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. Boat clubs and wildlife share the waterfront with freight rail headed across state lines and barges passing through Lock and Dam 19. The 4-million-gallon water tower rising above the waterfront is courtesy of starch byproduct manufacturer Roquette, which employs most of this smaller neighbor to Fort Madison and Burlington. "[People] definitely get more for their money here, and they really like the small town, calm, easy living," says Lisa Johnson, an agent with Weichert Realtors who was born and raised in Keokuk. Besides its riverfront history, local tourism cashes in on the city's nickname: "Geode Capital of the World." Excavators and tourists search for riverbed treasure formed over thousands of years from the remains of ancient sea creatures in the Lower Warsaw Formation. "So many people come for the geodes," Johnson says. "They love them and appreciate them, and it makes you learn to appreciate them more too when you see the excitement that it brings everybody." Keokuk's median home price is well below the national median and on par with Fort