Adair is a city in Adair and Guthrie counties of Iowa in the United States. The population was 791 at the 2020 census. History The Rock Island Railroad was built through the area in 1868, which led to the area being known as Summit Cut. This was in reference to the ridge that forms the watershed divide between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The town officially became known as Adair on August 20, 1872, when it was incorporated with the county. The town is named after General John Adair, a general in the War of 1812 who later became the eighth governor of Kentucky. Adair was the scene of the first successful train robbery in the American West when on July 21, 1873, the James-Younger Gang (led by Jesse James) took US $3,000 from the Rock Island Express after derailing it southwest of the town. The derailment killed the engineer. A rare F5 tornado occurred near this town on June 27, 1953, although the damage occurred closer to the town of Anita. One person was killed and two others were injured. Adair is recognizable from Interstate 80 by its tall yellow "smiley-face" water tower. Humorously known as "the happiest town on Earth", its roadsign warmly greets visitors with, "Welcome to Adair; it'll make you smile". Some of the local businesses incorporate the smiley-face tower image into their company logos. Adair is mentioned in the 2013 Stephen King novel Doctor Sleep. Geography Adair is located at (41.500094, -94.643839). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Demographics The Guthrie County portion of Adair is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. 2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 781 people, 361 households, and 208 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 403 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.1% White, 0.1% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 0.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population. There were 361 households, of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.2% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 1.7% had a male householder with no wife