Decorah trip planner

Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,127 at the 2010 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S. Route 52, and is the largest community in Winneshiek County.HistoryOriginally settled by the Day family in 1849, Decorah has become a center for Norwegian-American culture originating from a high number of Norwegian settlements beginning in the 1850s. Since 1861 it has been the home of Luther College, a liberal arts institution affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Each July Decorah is also the host of Nordic Fest, a celebration of Norwegian culture with ethnic dancing, food, and music. Decorah is also the home of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, the largest museum in the country devoted to one single immigrant group. Until 1972, one of the largest Norwegian language newspapers in the nation was published in Decorah, the Decorah Posten.The city was named for Waukon Decorah, a Winnebago leader who was a U.S. ally during the Black Hawk War of 1832 and whose people were subsequently forced out of Wisconsin into northeast Iowa. Waukon, immediately east, seat of Allamakee County, is also named for him. The Day family and other early, non-native settlers were able to enter and acquire land in Decorah only after the Winnebago Indians were removed in 1848.