Curious Iowa: How were Iowa’s 99 county borders determined?

If you look at a map of Iowa, you’ll notice a relatively uniform system of borders on its counties. You’ll also notice there are a lot of counties.

Penny Boenish of Cedar Rapids grew up near the border of Hardin and Grundy counties where a sharp edge interrupts an otherwise straight boundary. She wondered why the counties have notches in their borders instead of straight lines.

Boenish wrote to Curious Iowa, a Gazette series that answers readers’ questions about our state, its people and the culture, to find the answer.

We looked into the establishment of Iowa’s county borders and how boundaries have shifted over the years. That search also took us down a rabbit hole of arguments over whether Iowa should consolidate its counties.

When did Iowa’s counties form?

  Buy Photo

The formation of Iowa’s counties was heavily influenced by the Land Ordinance of 1785, which guided the divvying up of land and formation of townships. Leo Landis, state curator at the State Historical Society of Iowa, said the ordinance tried to put a square grid on a round earth.

“As you move west, you know that most counties are going to be 24 miles wide by 24 miles tall,” Landis said, “and that every time you hit a road, most times that means you’ve gone a mile — that’s all based on the Land Ordinance of 1785 … it really helps you make sense of our geography in Iowa.”

Before European settlers arrived in what is today the state of Iowa, there were six primary tribes: the Dakota or Sioux in the northwest, the Potawatomi in the southwest, the Ioway in the south, the Sauk and Meskwaki in the east, and the Winnebago, who were moved to northeast Iowa before moving to Minnesota, South Dakota and eventually landing in Nebraska.

Between 1825 and 1840, the main boundary in Iowa was the “Neutral Line” which aimed to separate the Dakota in the north from the Sauk, the Meskwaki, and the Ioway in the south. In “An Iowa Album: A Photographic History, 1860-1920,” Mary Bennett writes, “Of these tribes, only the Mesquakie [sic] were able to withstand the enormous pressurs [sic] of the advancing frontier with the myriad intrusions by the federal government and pioneer settlers.”

Iowa’s first counties were formed while it was a part of the Michigan territory. After Michigan became a state in 1836, Iowa became part of the Wisconsin Territory.

Two years later, the Iowa territory was organized. Shortly after, new counties sprouted: Delaware, Dubuque, Linn, Jones, Jackson, Johnson, Cedar, Clinton, Scott, Slaughter (Washington), Muscatine, Louisa, Henry, Van Buren, Lee and Fayette. Land that extended deep into what is today parts of Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota was tacked on to Fayette County. When Iowa became a state in 1846, Iowa’s borders as we know them today were set and the excess land was eliminated.

By 1846, 44 counties were organized. Iowa’s Constitution stated that a new county could not be formed if it had less than 432 square miles of land. It also prohibited taking land from an established county to create a new county. The exception being Worth County in far northern Iowa and the counties west of it.

County borders were influenced by the 5th meridian, which makes up the western borders of Jackson, Clinton, and Scott counties, and natural features, like rivers. The northernmost row of counties, for the most part, is shorter because it was the cutoff point for the state boundary, Landis said.

Those little notches Boenish noticed? Thank correction lines for those. Since the earth curves, each land division from north to south can’t be the same size. So, correction lines from east to west were established and then adjustments were made along correction lines to ensure land parcels were of equal size.

“So that’s why you get those weird offsets,” Landis said.

  Buy Photo

Did Iowa once have 100 counties?

In 1851, Iowa had 100 counties. One of those counties, Bancroft, does not exist today. Bancroft was the northern half of present-day Kossuth County in northern Iowa.

Legislative changes in 1855 merged Bancroft into Kossuth County, along with the north half of Humboldt County. Meanwhile, the southern half of Humboldt County was united with counties to its south. For two years, Humboldt County did not exist.

“Humboldt County used to be the same size pre-1855 when it existed, it was the same size as Pocahontas and Worth,” Landis said. “And then when it’s remade in 1857, it’s smaller.”

When settlers began exploring the former Bancroft area of Kossuth County, the idea of dividing Kossuth County again was top of mind. In 1870, the 13th General Assembly divided the 12 northern townships of Kossuth County into Crocker County.

Crocker County was short lived. After 19 months, the land was returned to Kossuth County, according to the Iowa Legislative Services Agency. Because the Iowa Constitution did not allow new counties with less than 432 miles to be formed, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the legislative act that created the county was unconstitutional.

Almost 40 years later, the Iowa Legislature tried to split up Kossuth County again. Landis said that the attempt in 1913 was about wanting to honor “an Iowa icon,” Iowa’s 13th governor, William Larrabee. Rep. James McHose of Boone led efforts, but residents of northern Kossuth County lobbied for the county to remain intact. The issue was brought to voters in 1914, and the proposition failed.

Does Iowa need 99 counties?

  Buy Photo

As Iowa’s population ebbs and flows, the possibility of county consolidation has been discussed. Some of those suggestions have came out of requirement, like combining Pocahontas and Humboldt counties when new courthouses were needed. Others suggest it would create efficiencies.

Cedar Rapids resident and retired Maytag CEO Len Hadley has been an advocate for consolidating Iowa’s counties for more than two decades. He’s an expert on administrative efficiency and served on former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack’s Strategic Planning Commission in 1999, as well as a past Board of Regents performance-based funding task force.

Today, at age 90, Hadley holds steadfast. He told The Gazette that just last year he wrote a letter to Gov. Kim Reynolds sharing his proposal for county consolidation.

When counties were organized, traveling to the county seat was done by horse and buggy. But transportation has changed significantly since then. While speaking with The Gazette editorial board in 2009, Hadley proposed that counties be consolidated so each county seat is no more than a 45-minute drive from the county’s borders.

Hadley said in some regards, the consolidation of Iowa’s counties is similar to the consolidation of the state’s country schools. He argued that by combining counties, there would be savings from the reduction of administrative costs.

  Buy Photo

Hadley gives the example of Dubuque County with a population of about 98,700 people, and the four northeast Iowa counties of Winneshiek, Allamakee, Fayette and Clayton. Combined, the four counties have a population of about 70,000 people. By consolidating, Hadley said, the counties could eliminate the need for separate elected officials.

“If that savings were available to the northern four counties by putting them together in one county … what are you going to do with it? Well, the quick answer we had back then was take a look at the property tax costs per 1,000 in the county,” Hadley said. “And it would generally make sense to devote some substantial part of that to local property tax savings.”

While the idea had some supporters, Hadley said a clear consolidation process was never laid out.

Landis recalled that arguments like Hadley’s have cropped up many times throughout Iowa’s state history.

“Because we are creatures of habit and we like the way our boundaries are,” Landis said. “There’s been no real political will to try to consolidate Iowa’s counties.”

Have a question for Curious Iowa?

Tell us what to investigate next.

Comments: bailey.cichon@thegazette.com