Индиола, Айова: История и современность города воздушных шаров и оперного искусства.

Indianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States, located south of downtown Des Moines. The population was 15,833 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Indianola is home to the National Balloon Classic, a nine day hot air balloon festival held annually in the summer, the Des Moines Metro Opera, a world renowned major American Summer Opera Festival, and Simpson College.

Indianola was founded in 1849 as the county seat of Warren County. The town was located near the geographic center of the new county. The town's name was taken from a newspaper account of a Texas ghost town of the same name. Indianola was incorporated in 1863.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.25 square miles (29 km2), all land. The Summerset Trail's southern terminus is in Indianola.

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Indianola has a hot summer humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfa" on climate maps.

Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and National Balloon Museum.

Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola, and was founded in 1860.

Iowa Highway 92 runs east and west through the city and crosses US Highways 65 and 69 southeast of the central business district.

Indianola no longer has railroad service. At one time, it served as a terminus for a branch line of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad which came off the CB&Q mainline at Indianola Junction, which was four miles west of Chariton. There was a brick and stucco depot that stood across the tracks from the Rock Island depot. This line was abandoned in the early 1960s. The other railroad was the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, which branched off a branch line from Carlisle, which is just southeast of Des Moines, to Summerset Junction, a few miles north of Indianola and on into Winterset. The Winterset to Summerset Junction portion of the line was discontinued in the early 1960s, leaving the Indianola to Carlisle line in place. There was a brick Rock Island depot just to the west of US Highway 65 & 69 in the center of Indianola. This line maintained sporadic service until the Rock Island went bankrupt in 1980. The line was then operated by the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad until the early 1990s, at which point the line was abandoned back to Carlisle. The line was converted to the Summerset Trail from Indianola to Carlisle after abandonment. The Rock Island and CB&Q lines both came in from the east and paralleled each other as they came into Indianola. They could interchange cars and there was at one point, first class Pullman passenger trains came down the Rock Island and then moved to the CB&Q railroad to Chariton and on to St. Joseph, Missouri. The Rock Island purchased a portion of the CB&Q after it was abandoned. Freight cars were sometimes stored there.

Scheduled passenger service and general aviation services are provided by Des Moines International Airport, which is 13 miles northwest of Indianola. There are two privately owned airports near Indianola: Nash Field is four miles south of Indianola and is open to the public. Laverty Field is three miles north of Indianola and requires prior permission to land.

Indianola has a municipal, Gigabit capable, fiber optic network and entrepreneurial development programs that links STEM related activities at its schools and Simpson College to the local tech economy.