Wayfarrow

Rosetta

Ghost town · Keokuk County, Iowa

What Cheer quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1965, 1:24,000)
What Cheer quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1965, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Rosetta is a ghost town in Keokuk County, Iowa. It is one of 6 former communities in Keokuk County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 3rd among the 79 Iowa counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Rosetta as a historical populated place on the What Cheer topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 41.4097° N, 92.3632° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleWhat Cheer
Elevation768 ft
Nearest living townWhat Cheer, IA
Distance to it0.7 miles
GNIS feature ID464277
Coordinates41.40973, -92.36324

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Rosetta is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is What Cheer, IA (population 634), about 0.7 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 768 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Rosetta?

Rosetta is in Keokuk County, Iowa, at 41.4097, -92.3632.

How many ghost towns are in Keokuk County?

Keokuk County, Iowa has 6 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.