Jasper County, Iowa

Jasper County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

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History

Jasper County, with an area of 736 square miles, was named in honor of Revolutionary War hero Sergeant William Jasper. The county seat Newton was named after Sergeant Newton. Newton and Jasper both served under General Francis Marion, “The Swamp Fox.”

The first county elections were held on April 6, 1846, and the first county business was conducted on April 14, 1846. In the summer of 1846 the commissioners selected Newton City as the county seat. On February 3, 1847 the legislature shortened the name to Newton.

In 1846, before a courthouse had been constructed at Newton, one was built at Adamson’s Grove. This building was offered to the county but it was declined.

Finally, in 1847, the first courthouse was constructed at Newton. It was a small, inexpensive building. Evan Adamson was paid $87.50 to construct it. In 1857 this building was sold and moved to a farm.

In 1858 a more elaborate and appropriate building was built. The 62-foot x 50-foot two-story structure was sandstone and brick and faced with limestone. The building served the county for several years until it became unsanitary and a firetrap. In 1909 it was torn down.

The present courthouse was dedicated on April 6, 1911. The large three-story building is made entirely of Bedford limestone. Only the doors and window casings are made from wood. The interior is decorated with ceramic tile and marble wainscoting.

A clock tower rises 56 feet above the roof. The four dials of the clock measure 8 feet in height. Private funds in the amount of $1,200 were donated for its purchase. Total cost, including furnishings, was $200,226.

Source: Nancy Parrot, Jasper County Recorder, 2002

Neighboring Counties:

North: Marshall County
Northeast: Tama County
East: Poweshiek County
Southeast: Mahaska County
South: Marion County
West: Polk County
Northwest: Story County

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County Resource Guide

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we’ve given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the “characteristic features of our country!”

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn’t the only reason to explore counties’ role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today’s counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990’s political slogan “Think globally, act locally.”

Penn Foster High School

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