Cresco is a city in Howard County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,905 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Howard County. Cresco is home to one of the largest school districts in Iowa in terms of square miles, the Howard-Winneshiek Community School District. The high school is called Crestwood High School. Crestwood Elementary/Junior High School are also in Cresco. Notre Dame Catholic School offers private education to elementary school students. Although Cresco is no longer on a railroad line, it is home to a restored Milwaukee Road FP7 diesel engine which is known as the Heritage Train and displayed in a park (Beadle Park) at the center of the city on Highway 9. A newspaper in the city is the weekly Cresco Times Plain Dealer, published on Wednesdays.