Photos: © Ida Grove Website

Ida Grove, Iowa

Ida Grove (also known as Castletown) in Iowa is a small town with a wealth of castles (one of their town websites even has the URL: CastletownUSA.com!).   

Castles in America are often the brainchild of one man (yes, for some reason it tends to be men rather than women who want to build castles) and that's no different in Ida Grove where one man – Byron Godbersen – decided to take inspiration from 'real' castles when designing his properties (subsequently built for him by his employees) in Ida Grove.

The 'Castles' to see if you're in Ida Grove include the wonderful castellated bridge (shown above) on the golf course, the Ida Grove Skate Palace, the gates at the entrance to the town and even an aircraft hangar.  Whilst most of these structures can only be viewed externally (and some are private so please bear this in mind even if you're just viewing externally), the Skate Palace is available for rental at certain times of the year.

From the Castletown Website:

“There was one man largely responsible for the castle structures, Byron Godbersen (1925-2003), founder and owner of Midwest Industries in Ida Grove. Midwest manufactures marine and small farm equipment and employs approximately 300 people. Mr. Godbersen liked the castle design and implemented his likes into the buildings built for him by his employees. The privately owned structures are beautiful and help to promote our community. As they are privately owned, few tours are given of the interior of the buildings”.

Visit Ida Grove

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE IDA GROVE WEBSITE

'Castletown USA' Website

Ida Grove is 60 miles (1hr) east of Sioux City, Iowa

Ida Grove is 100 miles (1hr 50) north of Omaha, Nebraska

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