Ottumwa, city, seat of Wapello County, southeastern Iowa, on the Des Moines River; incorporated 1857. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing hub located in a rich farming area. Agricultural equipment, meat products, automobile parts, and fiberglass items are produced in the city. A junior college is here. The city was founded in a land rush in 1843 after the Fox and Sac peoples ceded the area. Its name is derived from a Native American word perhaps meaning “strong willed and persevering.” Population 27,381 (1980); 24,488 (1990); 24,998 (2000).
