Des Moines County
Wikipedia
Notes
Burlington natives include: Wallace Carothers, chemist at DuPont and inventor of nylon; actor William Frawley ("I Love Lucy"); author Aldo Leopold; NFL quarterback Kurt Warner; and Robert Noyce, co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel. Amtrak's "California Zephyr," between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay, stops in Burlington.
The city of Des Moines is far, far away.
It's many miles to the northwest.
Both city and county were named for the river,
Which is kind of confusing, at best.
The county seat, Burlington's, right on the river.
No, not the Des Moines. The Mississippi.
There are mansions and churches right up there on top of
The Crookedest Street in the World, Snake Alley.
It's hard to believe, but this city's the birthplace
Of so many notable people.
The inventor of nylon and Frawley and Aldo,
Kurt Warner and the founder of Intel.
And the city of Burlington's given its name
To the biggest railroad in the country.
The BNSF - don't ask. It's complex.
And Amtrak can take you to Truckee!