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Iowa Counties

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Iowa Counties

There are 99 Counties in Iowa. The first two counties, Des Moines County and Dubuque County, were created in 1834 when Iowa was still part of the Michigan Territory. In preparation for Michigan's statehood, part of Michigan Territory was formed into Wisconsin Territory in 1836]. Two years later, the western portion was split off to become Iowa Territory. The south-eastern part of Iowa Territory became Iowa, the 29th state in the union, on 28 December 1846, by which point 44 Counties had been created. Counties continued to be created by the state government until 1857, when the last county, Humboldt County, was created.

Kossuth County, Iowa

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

County Seat: Algona
Year Organized: 1851
Square Miles: 973

Court House:

114 West State Street
County Courthouse
Algona, IA 50511-2613

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Kossuth is named for Lajos Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Kossuth is the largest county in Iowa in area and was named for the Hungarian patriot, Lajos Kossuth. Kossuth County was established in 1851 and originated in 1855. The first supervisors took office in 1861. There were three supervisors, one for each township in county at the time. In 1872, the county voted in favor of having a board of five supervisors, two to be elected at large. The present districting system was set up in 1900.

The present boundaries of the county were fixed by the legislature in 1857 by blotting Bancroft County out of existence and adding it to Kossuth County. In 1870, Crocker County was created on the ruins of old Bancroft County, but the Act was declared unconstitutional because the county did not contain 432 miles. Thus Crocker County passed out of existence, and its 12 townships were added to Kossuth County, reducing from 100 to 99 the number of counties in Iowa.

Until 1866, officials had only temporary quarters. The supervisors met in the county judge's office, and the treasurer and recorder were housed in a log addition to the old St. Nicholas hotel. Records were kept at home, or anywhere that was convenient.

The original courthouse was built in 1867 where the old jail is now located. A vote in 1871 approved construction of a new courthouse, which was built the next year. This courthouse served the county until 1953.

After getting approval for a new courthouse in 1947, thrifty supervisors decided to wait until the cost of material decreased before building. The Board invested the bonds in interest-bearing US war bonds and earned more than $43,000 by the time the new courthouse had been completed in 1955, for a total cost of $520,605.

All of Kossuth County was included in the Sioux Indian claim against the US government in connection with about 29 million acres of land ceded by Sioux treaties from 1805 to 1858. Settlement of the claims was reached during the summer of 1967, after 160 years of litigation.

Kossuth County boards have been continually plagued by water problems. On the flat land left by the glaciers there was little runoff. In the spring, large areas of the county were flooded. In the early days, there were many elections on whether and where to build bridges. The votes usually carried, and the county ran heavily in debt. As the years passed, the county established drainage districts to solve the flooding problem.

There have been several attempts to divide the county, but none ever succeeded, and Kossuth is still the largest county in area in the state.

Source: Karen Benschoter, Kossuth County Recorder, 2002

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Faribault County, Minn.; Winnebago County
Southeast: Hancock County; Wright County
South: Humboldt County
Southwest: Pocahontas County; Palo Alto County
Northwest: Emmet County; Martin County, Minn.

Cities and Towns:

- Algona (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Bancroft	city	Incorporated Area
- Burt	city	Incorporated Area
- Fenton	city	Incorporated Area
- Lakota	city	Incorporated Area
- Ledyard	city	Incorporated Area
- Lone Rock	city	Incorporated Area
- Lu Verne	city	Incorporated Area
- Swea City	city	Incorporated Area
- Titonka	city	Incorporated Area
- Wesley	city	Incorporated Area
- Whittemore	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this 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."