Niota is an unincorporated community in Appanoose Township

Appanoose Township, Hancock County, Illinois

Appanoose Township is one of twenty-five townships in Hancock County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 350.-Geography:...

, Hancock County

Hancock County, Illinois

Hancock County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 19,104, which is a decrease of 5.1% from 20,121 in 2000. Its county seat is Carthage. Hamilton is the largest city in Hancock County, with Carthage being the second largest...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. The community is located on the bank of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 and is at the eastern end of the Fort Madison Toll Bridge, which connects Niota to Fort Madison

Fort Madison, Iowa

Fort Madison, situated on the Mississippi River, is a city in and one of the county seats of Lee County, Iowa, United States. The other county seat is Keokuk. The population was 10,715 at the 2000 census...

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

. Niota is the western terminus of Illinois Route 9

Illinois Route 9

Illinois Route 9 is a cross-state, east–west rural state highway in central Illinois. It runs from the Fort Madison Toll Bridge over the Mississippi River to Iowa in Niota east to State Road 26 at the Indiana border. This is a distance of ....

 and is also served by Illinois Route 96

Illinois Route 96

Illinois Route 96 is a north–south state road in far western Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 100 in Kampsville, not far from a ferry crossing across the Illinois River, to Illinois Route 94 north of Terre Haute. This is a distance of ....

, which is part of the Great River Road

Great River Road

The Great River Road is a collection of state, provincial, federal, and local roads which follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States...

. The community suffered severe damage from flooding on the Mississippi at a point in its history. The Federal Emergency Management Agency

Federal Emergency Management Agency

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...

(FEMA) proposed that the community be relocated and incorporated at a cost of $8.5 million, though most townspeople preferred to stay where they were.