Iowa State...
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Iowa Counties
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Johnson County, Iowa
Johnson County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat:
Year Organized:
Square Miles:
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Court House: Put address here
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Named: Meaning of County Name State & County QuickFacts:
History
Johnson County is named for Colonel
Richard Mentor Johnson and not Andrew Johnson, as some believe. Colonel Johnson
was in the War of 1812, senator from Michigan and the vice-president of the US
during the Van Buren administration.
Until the late 1830s the area known today as Johnson County was nothing more
than wilderness and a hunting ground for the Fox and Sac Indians. Between 1832
and 1837 the Indians were stripped of their lands by treaty. Soon settlers began
to move into the county. The county was established in 1837. By 1838 there were
two towns competing for the county seat--Osceola and Napoleon. An Act of the
Wisconsin Assembly selected Napoleon as the county seat on June 22, 1838. A
two-story log cabin courthouse was then constructed at Napoleon.
When the First Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Iowa met at Burlington a
bill was approved to locate the seat of government for the Territory of Iowa.
The site was to be within the boundaries of Johnson County, and it was to be
named Iowa City. Three commissioners met and selected a site two miles north of
Napoleon on May 1, 1839.
On December 31, 1839, an Act was passed to relocate the county seat of Johnson
County with orders to keep present and future populations in mind. The site of
the new county seat was easily chosen as Iowa City, the "capital" of the Iowa
Territory. In January 1855, the Fifth General Assembly voted to move the state
capital to Des Moines.
The first courthouse built in Iowa City was a temporary two-story structure
constructed of bricks. This courthouse burned to the ground in 1856. In 1857
this building was replaced by another courthouse, which was insured for $30,000.
This brick building was used until 1899, when it was condemned.
The cornerstone of the present courthouse was laid on December 2, 1899. It was
constructed by James Rowson and Son at a cost of $135,000. Bands, balloons and a
parade were part of the dedication ceremonies held on June 8, 1901.
Neighboring Counties:
- North: Linn County
- Northeast: Cedar County
- Southeast: Muscatine County; Louisa County
- Southwest: Washington County
- West: Iowa County
- Northwest: Benton County
Cities:
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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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."
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Penn Foster High School
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