[3] It is the home of the Mahanay Memorial Bell Tower, 168 feet (51 m) tall, located on the town square, and visible for miles.

The tower is named for Floyd Mahanay, a businessman, philanthropist, and former resident.

While platted and settled a few years earlier, "New Jefferson" was organized in the winter of 1855–56 and officially incorporated in January 1872.

[5] During the Civil War, Jefferson as well as Greene County contributed its sons to raising Company H, 10th Iowa Infantry (1861) and Company E, 39th Iowa Infantry (1862).

34.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

33.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Completed in October 1966 at nearly 14 stories or 168 feet (51 m) in height, the Mahanay Memorial Bell Tower is named for Floyd Mahanay who left an endowment of $350,000 to have the tower built.

However, the funds were not sufficient to provide for a full carillon of bells on top.

The bells are expected to be chiming the summer of 2017 and will be operated by a digital piano to give tunes for weddings, birthdays, funerals and even the local high school's fight song after games.

Every 15 minutes, the tower provides the current time with a recording of the Westminster Chimes.

An elevator in the tower takes visitors to the observation deck which overlooks five Iowa counties.

As of 2016, there were more than seventeen other buildings in Iowa taller than the Mahanay Tower: 12 in Des Moines, 3 in Cedar Rapids, and 2 in Davenport.

[12][13][14][15] Since 1980 annually on the second Saturday of June, the Bell Tower Festival has a parade in the morning and a street dance in the evening.