Atlantic, Iowa: The Coin Flip Town

Atlantic was surveyed and platted in October of eighteen sixty-eight when the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad pushed tracks through Cass County. Local legend holds that the founding fathers, standing roughly midway between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, flipped a coin to decide which ocean would name the town. Atlantic won.

Historians cannot agree on how the town got its name. Either way, Atlantic became a service center for the surrounding farm country that has functioned in that role ever since. Route Six rolls right through downtown.