Full script: the history of Riverside, Iowa
Riverside, Iowa, is a farm town of about a thousand people on the English River. It also claims to be the birthplace of a man who will not be born for another two hundred years.
Riverside was settled in 1872 and incorporated in 1882. The name, suggested by a Dr. Ott, probably comes from its spot on the English River. The railroad came through in 1879.
In the Star Trek stories, Captain James T. Kirk was born in Riverside, Iowa. So in 1985, the town petitioned the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry, and Paramount Pictures, to adopt Kirk as its future son.
Roddenberry agreed, and Riverside proclaimed itself the future birthplace of Captain Kirk.
Paramount wanted forty thousand dollars for a license to make a bust of Kirk. So the town put up a plaque instead, and built its own replica starship, named the USS Riverside.
Even the date is up for debate. One account gives Kirk's birthday as March twenty-second, 2228. Another says 2233. Either way, Riverside holds a Trek Fest every year, in anticipation.
So if you are driving through Iowa on Highway 22, stop in Riverside, and see the town where a starship captain is going to be born.
