Parkersburg, Iowa, is a small town in rural Butler County whose population was just under 1,900 people during the 2000 census. Nearly all are white. The town has an area of 1.1 square miles.

On May 25, 2008, the south side of town was almost completely destroyed by a tornado. Six people died, dozens were injured, hundreds of houses were damaged, and the high school lost its roof and gymnasium. The town had to be temporarily evacuated.

A year later, on June 24, 2009, the town returned to the national news when a disgruntled 24-year-old former football player shot and killed the Aplington-Parkersburg High School football coach, Ed Thomas, in front of about twenty students.