Star Trek Fans Can Visit The Future Birthplace Of Captain Kirk In A Real Iowa Town

When you're a big fan of something, sometimes it's fun to visit the places from that fandom. "Breaking Bad" fans turned Albuquerque, New Mexico into a tourism hot spot by visiting all of the various locations from the hit AMC series, for example, and even ended up getting statues built of leading characters Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in town. But what about something like "Star Trek," which takes place centuries into the future? Sure, fictional places like Federation Headquarters in San Francisco and Sisko's Creole Kitchen in New Orleans will one day exist, but you can't exactly visit them. There is one "Star Trek" location you can visit however: the future birthplace of James Tiberius Kirk, the Starfleet captain originally played by William Shatner in "Star Trek: The Original Series." 

According to "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, Kirk was from "a small town in Iowa," and Kirk joked in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" that "I'm from Iowa, I only work in outer space," and in March 1985 the town of Riverside, Iowa staked their claim as the hometown and birthplace of Captain Kirk. It wasn't officially designated as Kirk's birthplace until an episode of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," but fans have been visiting the town for years to see all of the cool "Star Trek" sights, and it's all because city councilman Steve Miller decided to put the town on the map in a big way. 

In 1985, Miller read "The Making of Star Trek" and noticed that Kirk was born in a small Iowa town, so he proposed that Riverside change its yearly River Festival into "Trekfest" and announce that they were the birthplace of Captain Kirk. They went for it, and according to Miller, Roddenberry was fine with the whole thing, and Roddenberry even told the Cedar Rapids Gazette that "As far as I'm concerned, the first volunteer has it." Then, in 2009, J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" showed Kirk growing up in Riverside, but showed him being born in outer space, which really rankled some folks in Riverside. Thankfully, the movie also established that it's a slightly different timeline, though it still led to some confusion. The fact that "Strange New Worlds" confirmed the death of Kirk's father in the same manner as the 2009 movie didn't really help matters, though they did make up for it by confirming that yes, Riverside is the birthplace of ole Jimmy Kirk. 

That means that fans who want to visit the place where Kirk will one day be born can make that trip, and there are some pretty neat things to see once they get there, too, even if it's not during Trekfest.

The monument to Kirk has his birthdate listed as March 22, 2228, and names Riverside as his birthplace. Canonically, Kirk's birth year would be set in 2223, a few years later, but the date is always March 22 because it's also Shatner's birthday. There's also a bronze statue of Kirk that doesn't quite look like Shatner but has his unofficial blessing, and it's kind of perfect because it accidentally almost looks like all of the Kirks thus far. It's a bit like "Strange New Worlds" actor Paul Wesley, and a bit like Kelvin-timeline Kirk actor Chris Pine, and a bit like Shatner, but it's undeniably Kirk. The statue was even spoofed in the 2009 comedy "Fanboys," where "Star Wars" fans visited to try and harass some "Star Trek" fans, including a very agitated character played by Seth Rogen. Their version of the statue had him fighting the evil Khan while wearing rather revealing pants, whereas the real one in Riverside is much more tasteful. 

Riverside also hosts the Voyage Home Riverside History Center, which serves as a sort of local "Star Trek" museum as well as a celebration of the town's history. They have exhibits about the women of "Star Trek," the various shows in the franchise, NASA, William Shatner's visit to Riverside to see the statue, and more, all alongside exhibits about the history of the town before and after its "Star Trek" connection. 

The 40th annual Trekfest will happen in Riverside, Iowa, from June 26 through June 28.