Anamosa is a city in Jones County, Iowa, United States.

[3] What is now Anamosa was founded as the settlement of Buffalo Forks in 1838 and incorporated as Lexington in 1856.

"[5] The romantic origin of the naming of the town of Anamosa comes from its early history.

According to legend, a Native American maiden and her lover threw themselves off a bluff overlooking the Wapsipinicon River; one was named Wapsi, the other Pinicon.

[7] The Anamosa Boot Hill Cemetery is still open today and is northwest of the town.

Anamosa is part of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Anamosa State Penitentiary was home to infamous criminal John Wayne Gacy as well as Robert Hansen, the inspiration for the movie Frozen Ground.

[15] It was established in 1872 and constructed from locally quarried Anamosa Limestone in the style of a castle, inspiring its nickname as "The White Palace of the West".

Anamosa was home to J&P Cycles, a supplier of aftermarket motorcycle parts and accessories, until its last operations in town closed at the end of 2023 [16]and was home to the National Motorcycle Museum, until its closing in September 2023.

[17] The museum had over 300 vintage motorcycles, including a replica of the "Captain America bike" from the movie Easy Rider.

[18] Anamosa was the birthplace and burial place of the regionalist artist Grant Wood; he is buried in Riverside Cemetery, next to a large monument of a recumbent lion.

Visitors can view a collection of satirical interpretations of his most famous work American Gothic at the Grant Wood Art Gallery on Main Street.

The unincorporated town of Stone City is a few miles northwest of Anamosa and was the location for some of Grant Wood's paintings.

The quarry that supplied the limestone still exists today as Weber Stone Company.

[19] Additionally St. Patrick School, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque, is in Anamosa.

[20] Controversy arose in Anamosa in the 2000s over the redistricting of election wards in the city.