This is a partial panorama of the highest point in Iowa, Hawkeye Point.

And then there is this:
View of Ocheyedan from the mound

Quote:

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This used to be the highest point in Iowa. In those two words - "used to" - is a strange story of how the highest point in Iowa ceased to be the highest point in Iowa. Maps prior to about 1970 - the 1968 map shows it - label Ocheyedan Mound as the highest point in Iowa, 1675 feet. (On the official map, the dot was southeast of where the mound actually is.) By the 1972 map, however, the mound's mark had been removed with no replacement. On the 1976 map, the "highest point" had moved northwest and dropped five feet! The new "highest point" was about smack dab in the middle of Iowa's portion of a triangle formed by IA 9, IA 60, and US 59. It wasn't even done moving then; maps 1977-1999 mark it on the right (east) side of County Road L44 while 2000-present maps mark it on the left (west) side, approximately the center of a triangle formed by IA 9, IA 60, and L44. The maps simply say, "Highest Point in Iowa - 1670 ft." This point, unlike the mound, is on private property, a farm northeast of Sibley.

How, pray tell, does a ten-thousand-year-old hill shrink? My speculation lies with modern scientific equipment, better at determining exact elevations. Topographic maps indicate Ocheyedan Mound is 1613 feet. Since Ocheyedan Mound was no longer Iowa's highest point, the place with that honor did not have a name. On March 23, 1998, Gov. Terry Branstad signed House Joint Resolution 2004, naming the place "Hawkeye Point."

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