Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Ottumwa

OTTUMWA, a city of the United States, capital of Wapello county, Iowa, lies on the Des Moines river (here spanned by a bridge), 75 miles north-west of Burlington by the main line of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Rail road. An important railway junction, in the heart of the coal-region of Iowa, and in possession of good water-power, Ottumwa, whose existence as a city dates from 1856, is growing in commercial and industrial activity. There is a large pork-packing establishment, killing 100,000 hogs annually. Among the manufactures are waggons and carriages, ploughs, sewing machine attachments, table-cutlery, corn-starch, linseed oil, harness, and furniture. The population was 1632 in 1860, 5214 in 1870, and 9004 in 1880.