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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.

Plymouth County, Iowa

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

County Seat: Le Mars
Year Organized: 1851
Square Miles: 864

Court House:

215 4th Avenue S.E.
County Courthouse
Le Mars, IA 51031-2169

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Plymouth is named for Plymouth, Massachusetts, the first settlement of the Pilgrims in 1620.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Plymouth County, the fourth largest county, was established on January 15, 1851 and formally organized on October 12, 1858. It is named after the landing place of Pilgrims on the Mayflower. The county was attached to Woodbury County for judicial and other reasons prior to 1858.

The site of the first courthouse was in Melbourne. It was built in October of 1859 at a cost of $2,000. In 1861 the building was insured, desks were bought and an outhouse and steps were added. The courthouse in Melbourne had many uses. For example, it was used by the federal government as a winter quarters for soldiers and as a grocery.

In 1872, by a close vote, the county seat was moved to LeMars. The town of LeMars had been platted in 1869 and was named by using an interesting method. A party of bankers, realtors, a state legislator, and state register of deeds took an excursion to the LeMars area. The ladies along for the journey decided to use their first names initials to name the town. In order to form a six letter word from nine initials a combination of marital status and numbers was used. The letters "L" and "M" each represented two married women. That is why both are capitalized. The "e" stands for one married and one unmarried women and the "a, r, s" each stand for one married women. The order of the "L" and "M" were chosen by drawing straws. If it had gone the other way, LeMars could be MeLars today.

In 1874 residents voted to build a new courthouse in LeMars. Three thousand dollars was appropriated from the swamp land fund, and the land was donated by the Sioux City and Iowa Falls Town Lot and Land Company.

In 1900, at a general election on November 6, a proposal was passed to build a new courthouse. It was to cost no more than $70,000. This building was constructed in 1901-1902 by Emil Miller and was designed by Kinney and Detweiler of Austin, Minnesota. The fireproof building was built of Portage-entry red sandstone and was of the Renaissance style. It contained a tall portico, Corinthian columns, and a central tower capped by a large dome. In 1913, the large tower was removed due to the strain it caused.

Both the courthouse and county seat gained national attention in the spring of 1933, when Judge C. C. Bradley was kidnapped by an angry mob of farmers and was threatened with hanging unless he stopped signing farm foreclosure notices. The judge refused to comply, and although he was not hanged, he was taken out into the country, smeared with oil and dirt and left to find his own way home.

In 1997, a three-story addition was added to the south side of the original courthouse, adding an additional 8,175 sq. ft. It was constructed using materials to blend with the original structure at a cost of approximately $850,000. Presently a new Law Enforcement Center/Jail complex is being constructed. The cost is approximately $5.4 million and plans are to open Spring 2003.

Source: Kae Meyer, Plymouth County Auditor, 2002

Neighboring Counties:

North: Sioux County
Northeast: O'Brien County
East: Cherokee County
Southeast: Woodbury County
Northwest: Union County, S.Dak.

Cities and Towns:

- Akron	city	Incorporated Area
- Brunsville	city	Incorporated Area
- Craig	city	Incorporated Area
- Hinton	city	Incorporated Area
- Kingsley	city	Incorporated Area
- Le Mars (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Merrill	city	Incorporated Area
- Oyens	city	Incorporated Area
- Remsen	city	Incorporated Area
- Struble	city	Incorporated Area
- Westfield	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."