Share your pictures!  Did you get some great shots at this year's Pella Tulip Time?  How about recent vacation pictures?  You are welcome to share them in the Monroe Gallery.  For best results resize your pictures to 800 x 600 or smaller.  Click here to view or upload.  Easy to follow instructions.  Have ideas for additional albums?  Please click here e-mail your suggestions.

Monroe’s rich history began in 1843, when Adam Tool, William Highland and others staked out their homesteads and called the area “Tool’s Point”. The town was incorporated in 1867 and was named Monroe.

William and Ellen Highland built the first log home and became the parents of the first non-Native American child born in Jasper County. The third oldest home in the county is located just west of the city on County Road F70. The stately Victorian home, “Maple Hill”, was built in 1865 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The first Methodist Church circuit rider arrived in Jasper County in 1844 and services were held at the home of Adam Tool.

Located 30 miles southeast of Des Moines, the state capital, Monroe is intersected by Highways 163 and 14, with Interstate 80 just 12 miles north of the city.

• Knoxville, home of the Sprint Car Hall of Fame and National Sprint car races, is 14 miles south on Highway 14.
• Newton, home of the Jasper county seat, Jasper County Museum, and the Iowa Speedway Race Track, is located 14 miles to the North.
• Pella, 14 miles southeast on Highway 163, attracts travelers interested in the Dutch heritage of the community and the rich tradition of Tulip Time.