Since its founding in 1944, HON has been headquartered in Muscatine, IA, a small city located along the Mississippi River. If you’ve had the chance to visit us in Muscatine, you may have had the opportunity to view a beautiful sunset (or sunrise, for the morning people out there!) over the river. In fact, Mark Twain, who briefly lived and worked in Muscatine, described the sunsets as follows: “I have never seen any, on either side of the ocean that equaled them. They used the broad smooth river as a canvas, and painted on it every imaginable dream of color, from the mottled daintiness and delicacies of the opal…to blinding purple and crimson conflagrations which were enchanting to the eye, but sharply tried at the same time.” Mark Twain was just one notable visitor to Muscatine, and the sunsets are just one of many things for which Muscatine is known.

Here are some other interesting facts you might not know about Muscatine, Iowa:

1. There are no other cities in the United States named Muscatine.
2. Muscatine is known as the “Pearl of the Mississippi” in reference to pearl button manufacturing that was once the central economic focus of the city.
3. A wide variety of crops are grown in Muscatine, but arguably the most notable is the Muscatine Melon.
4. HJ Heinz Company has a location in Muscatine that is the largest outside of their headquarters in Pittsburgh—check your Heinz products, you may see Muscatine as the producing location!
5. Max Allan Collins is from Muscatine. You may know him as the author of Road to Perdition.
6. Muscatine's two national historic districts, Downtown and West Hill, are  listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
7. Maxwell Stanley, co-founder of HON, was also a founder of Stanley Consultants, the Stanley Foundation, and was a delegate to the United Nations.

Muscatine may not be all that big, but The HON Company is proud to be headquartered in a city that's home to a variety of industries, historical significance, and notable residents. If you haven’t had the chance to visit us at HON Headquarters, please do! If you have been here already, what was your favorite part about Muscatine?