Marshalltown is a city in and the county chair of Marshall County, Iowa, United States, located along the Iowa River. It is the seat and most populous concurrence of Marshall County and the 16th largest city in Iowa, with a population of 27,591 at the 2020 census. Marshalltown is house to the Iowa Veterans Home and Marshalltown Community College.

Henry Anson was the first European settler in what is now called Marshalltown. In April 1851, Anson found what he described as “the prettiest place in Iowa.” On a tall point amongst the Iowa River and Linn Creek, Anson built a log cabin. A plaque at 112 West Main Street marks the site of the cabin. In 1853 Anson named the town Marshall, after Marshall, Michigan, a former habitat of his.

The town became Marshalltown in 1862 because different Marshall already existed in Henry County, Iowa (In 1880, Marshall’s name tainted to Wayland). With the incite of Potawatomi chief Johnny Green, Anson persuaded early settlers to stay in the area. In the mid-1850s, Anson donated land for a county courthouse. Residents donated grant for the building’s construction. In 1863 the title of county chair transferred from the village of Marietta to Marshalltown. The juvenile town after that began growing. By 1900, Marshalltown had 10,000 residents. Many industries began developing in Marshalltown, like Fisher Controls, Lennox International and Marshalltown Company.

Marshalltown plays a little but significant role in the animatronics of Ebe Dolliver, a main air in MacKinlay Kantor’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Andersonville” (1955).