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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.

Winneshiek County, Iowa

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

County Seat: Decorah
Year Organized: 1847
Square Miles: 690

Court House:

201 W. Main Street
County Courthouse
Decorah, IA 52101-1713

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Winneshiek is named for Winneshiek, a chief of the Winnebago Native American tribe.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Winneshiek County is named after the chief of the Winnebago Indians. Winneshiek was the adviser to the War Chief Black Hawk.

In 1847 the early settlers asked for the organization of the county. On April 7, 1851 elections were held and the county seat was voted upon. The choices of county seats were Lewiston, Moneek and Decorah. The favorite to win was Moneek, but due to voting fraud and lost ballots, Decorah won with only 63 total votes being cast. This election was followed by several other bids for the county seat. Bids came from the town of Freeport, from 1854 to 1856. In 1898 Calmar also made an attempt to gain the county seat, but it also failed.

The first courthouse was completed in 1858 at Decorah. The final cost was approximately $18,000. In 1890 there was an attempt to replace this building with a more appropriate one. After pleading with county officials, it was placed on the ballot in 1898. It was overwhelmingly defeated. On November 3, 1902 it was again voted on. This time the count was 2,580 for a new courthouse and 1,584 against. The voters approved $75,000 for the new courthouse, and one year later they approved an additional $50,000 to complete the already-started project. The cornerstone was laid August 22, 1903, and the new building was occupied in November 1904 and is still in use today. In 1974-75 all new windows were put in the courthouse.

A renovation project was done to the 2nd and 3rd floors of the courthouse in 1990 and 1991 with a portion paid through grant funding. The courthouse was also repainted back to its original colors. In 2000 a new jail was built adjacent to the Sheriff's office.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Hancock County
Northeast: Cerro Gordo County
East: Franklin County
Southeast: Hardin County
South: Hamilton County
Southwest: Webster County
West: Humboldt County
Northwest: Kossuth County

Cities and Towns:

- Calmar	city	Incorporated Area
- Castalia	city	Incorporated Area
- Decorah (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Fort Atkinson	city	Incorporated Area
- Ossian	city	Incorporated Area
- Ridgeway	city	Incorporated Area
- Spillville	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."