Mason City Wedding

Mason City is a city in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 29,172 at the 2000 census and has stayed close to 30,000 since 1995. It is the county seat of Cerro Gordo CountyGR6. North Iowa Area Community College and Hamilton College is located here.

Mason City is the birthplace and childhood home of composer and playwright Meredith Willson. The fictional city of River City, Iowa in his musical The Music Man is loosely based on Mason City. Willson's birthplace has been restored as a tourist attraction and is part of the Music Man Square complex that includes a plaza with a bronze statue of Willson in a band major's uniform.

Puppeteer Bil Baird grew up in Mason City; his creations were featured in The Sound of Music and are now exhibited at the MacNider Art Museum. Also from Mason City were book designer, author and concert impresario Merle Armitage; and Steven Clay, publisher of Granary Books (New York).