Boone, Iowa: The Depot Was Boone, the Town Was Montana

For several years Boone, Iowa, answered to two names: the railroad called its station Boone, while the town that grew up around it was known as Montana. Before either name, the spot went by a nickname, Plugtown.

Blair buys a farm

The railroad decided where the town would be. The History of Boone County, Iowa, published in Des Moines in 1880, says John I. Blair, the railroad’s promoter, became “dissatisfied with the conduct of the people of Boonesboro,” the county seat. He went to Des Moines, made a deal for 1,320 acres (534 ha) of wild land owned by B. F. Allen, then drove to Nevada, Iowa, and telegraphed Allen to close it. That telegram, in the book’s words, “fixed the fate of Boonesboro and established the enterprising and flourishing city of Boone, which then as yet consisted of but one or two houses and was known by the euphonious name of Plugtown.”

The tracks reached the depot site by August 1865. “The station was called Boone,” the book goes on, “and the town which soon began to spring up was for several years known as Montana.” The line was leased to the Chicago & North Western, and Boone became the end of a division, with a roundhouse and railroad offices. Blair’s name turns up in the founding story of Ames, farther east on the same line, too.

Why “Montana”?

William H. Stennett, who wrote a book on the place names of the Chicago & North Western in 1908, gives the reason. The site on the railroad “was platted and was called Montana, a Latin word meaning ‘Mountainous regions’ because of the rolling character of the land around the site.”

That name didn’t help much with the neighbors. The 1880 history says Montana’s first try at a post office failed because Boonesboro fought it, and the Boonesboro people would joke, when the newcomers came over for their mail, about why “plug town” didn’t have one. In the end Montana got its office by “making the authorities at Washington believe that there was an impassable slough between the two towns.” Even then the office was called Boone Station, “from the fact that the railroad authorities refused to change the name of the station to that of the town.”

Back to Boone

So the railroad’s name won. Boone County’s official history says the town was first incorporated as Montana in 1866, a petition to rename it Boone went to the circuit court in August 1871, and the city council ordered the change on September 11, 1871. The U.S. Geological Survey’s record agrees: “Current name adopted in 1871.” The 1880 county history tells it a little differently. It says the town was incorporated in the fall of 1866 as Boone Station, later changed to Montana, and “in 1872 it was again changed to Boone.” We go with 1871, which has two sources and an exact date.

The name itself goes back to the county. Henry Gannett, in a 1905 Geological Survey bulletin, says Boone County, its city and a creek were named for “Captain Boone, United States dragoons, who captured Des Moines Valley above Coon Forks.” The county identifies him as Capt. Nathan Boone, youngest son of Daniel Boone, who camped with his company near Mineral Ridge on June 23, 1835. Stennett adds that Boonesboro, “a mile or so north” (about 1.6 km), was named from the county too.

The two towns finally became one. On March 21, 1887, Boonesboro was annexed to Boone, and a state act of March 23, 1888, made Boone the name of the county seat. If you want to ride a train out of Boone today, the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad runs steam excursions, as you can see in the photo at the bottom of this page.

Quick answers

Why was Boone, Iowa, once called Montana?

Stennett (1908) says the site was named Montana, “a Latin word meaning ‘Mountainous regions,’” for the rolling land around it. The railroad kept calling its station Boone, and the town switched to that name in 1871 (Boone County; USGS).

What was Plugtown?

The name of the spot before the railroad town grew, when it had “but one or two houses,” according to the 1880 History of Boone County. Boonesboro residents kept using “plug town” to tease the newcomers.

Which Boone is the town named for?

Capt. Nathan Boone of the U.S. dragoons, by way of Boone County. Boone County says he was the youngest son of Daniel Boone.

Key dates

1. 1835June 23: Capt. Nathan Boone's company camps near Mineral Ridge, in what becomes Boone County.
2. 1865August: the railroad reaches the depot site, and the station is called Boone.
3. 1866Fall: the new town is incorporated; the 1880 county history gives the name as Boone Station.
4. 1871September 11: the city council orders the name changed from Montana to Boone, according to Boone County.
5. 1887March 21: the older town of Boonesboro is annexed to Boone.
6. 1888March 23: a state act changes the name of the county seat from Boonesboro to Boone.

Getting there

Open Boone in Google Maps

• Map
• Directions
• Satellite
• Terrain

Opens in a new tab. The pin is the center of Boone in the USGS place-name record.

The closest airports, Amtrak stations and intercity bus stops, measured in a straight line from the center of Boone.

Airports

• Des Moines International (DSM) 38 mi 61 km
• Waterloo Regional (ALO) 83 mi 134 km
• Eppley Airfield (OMA) Omaha 116 mi 187 km

Amtrak trains

• Des Moines station (DES) 33 mi 54 km
• Marshalltown station (MAN) 50 mi 80 km

Intercity buses

• Jefferson Lines Ames 12 mi 19 km
• Greyhound Ames South Duff Avenue 14 mi 23 km

Distances are as the crow flies, not by road. We don't list schedules or fares because they change; check with the airline, Amtrak or the bus company before you go. Official data (FAA commercial service airports (2025), FAA airport locations, Amtrak stations and Intercity Bus Atlas) from the FAA and the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, checked Nov 6, 2026.

Historical Sources & References

• History of Boone County, Iowa (Union Historical Company, 1880). Blair’s purchase of Allen’s land and “Plugtown” (p. 413), the station called Boone and the town called Montana (p. 414), the post office fight and the “impassable slough” (p. 505), the Boone Station post office (p. 513) and the incorporation of 1866 and change “again” to Boone in 1872 (p. 515).
• William H. Stennett, A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western… (1908), entry “Boone”. Montana as “a Latin word meaning ‘Mountainous regions,’” Boonesboro a mile or so (1.6 km) north and the county name.
• Boone County, Iowa, “About Boone County”. Nathan Boone’s camp of 1835, the town founded by John Insley Blair in 1865, incorporation as Montana in 1866, the change to Boone on September 11, 1871, and the joining with Boonesboro in 1887 and 1888.
• Henry Gannett, The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, 2nd ed. (1905), p. 52. County, city and creek named for Captain Boone of the dragoons.
• GNIS feature 454753 (U.S. Geological Survey). Boone’s line in the USGS names file, where the history note reads “Platted in 1865 and incorporated in 1866. Current name adopted in 1871.”