The U.S. Geological Survey National Mapping Information locates Ames at 42° 01' 38" N 093° 37' 54" W.
Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa, about 30 miles north of Des Moines in Story County. It is the principal city of the "Ames, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area" which encompasses all of Story County, Iowa and which, when combined with the "Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area," comprises the larger "Ames-Boone, Iowa Combined Statistical Area." As of the 2000 Census, the city population was 50,731. While Ames is the largest city in Story County, the county seat is in Nevada which is 8 miles east of Ames. It is also the site of the Ames Straw Poll, an important straw poll in the Republican party presidential nomination process.
The city was founded in 1864 as a station stop on the Cedar Rapids and Missouri Railroad and was named after 19th century U.S. congressman Oakes Ames of Massachusetts, who was influential in the building of the transcontinental railroad. Ames was founded near a location that was deemed favorable for a railroad crossing of the Skunk River.
Ames is home of Iowa State University of Science & Technology, a space grant college, at its founding, the state's (Morrill Act) land-grant university, formerly known as the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. Ames is the home of the closely allied U.S Department of Agriculture's National Animal Disease Center, and the main offices of the Iowa state Department of Transportation. State and Federal institutions are the largest employers in Ames.
Other area employers include a 3M manufacturing plant; Sauer-Danfoss, a hydraulics manufacturer; Barilla, a pasta manufacturer; and Ball, a manufacturer of canning jars and plastic bottles.