Iowa Geography Question

[CloneFanInKC]

Kossuth county is made up of two counties: Kossuth and Bancroft counties. Asa call was the founder of algona, and ended up being elected to the Iowa legislature. There he argued that Bancroft county was not viable because it was swampland and too wet to support a population and therefore a county. He proposed the two counties be merged and they were.

In 1871, there was a proposal to reestablish the second county as Crocker(sp?) county, but that did not come to fruition. There was a map in the county engineers office that shows that.

Sometime after the merger of the two counties, the representatives of Kossuth and Webster counties came up with a plan to set the county seats in particular cities. Asa call wanted algona which is in the southern half of the county, the representative from Webster county wanted ft dodge, which is the northern part of Webster county, neither very central which was a large positive for being selected.

They hatched a plan where Humboldt between the two would give a row of townships to each of those neighbors, making Kossuth extend 6 miles farther south and better centering algona, and making Webster extend 6 miles further north for the same reason. Dakota city would remain central in Humboldt county. After all seats were set, the townships would be retuned .

Kossuth gave them back, Webster did not.

It’s b/c of this response and similar responses in this thread that make this thread one of the better ones on CF in recent history IMO.

 

[MeanDean]

Because they made the counties up by total IQ level. It takes 2x as many Kossuth people to equal us in bago county.

So that's why Johnson County (623 square miles) is larger than Story County (574).
Seems like it should be a lot bigger. I guess those doctors there are probably tilting it back a bit.

 

[clones_jer]

Kossuth county is made up of two counties: Kossuth and Bancroft counties. Asa call was the founder of algona, and ended up being elected to the Iowa legislature. There he argued that Bancroft county was not viable because it was swampland and too wet to support a population and therefore a county. He proposed the two counties be merged and they were.

In 1871, there was a proposal to reestablish the second county as Crocker(sp?) county, but that did not come to fruition. There was a map in the county engineers office that shows that.

Sometime after the merger of the two counties, the representatives of Kossuth and Webster counties came up with a plan to set the county seats in particular cities. Asa call wanted algona which is in the southern half of the county, the representative from Webster county wanted ft dodge, which is the northern part of Webster county, neither very central which was a large positive for being selected.

They hatched a plan where Humboldt between the two would give a row of townships to each of those neighbors, making Kossuth extend 6 miles farther south and better centering algona, and making Webster extend 6 miles further north for the same reason. Dakota city would remain central in Humboldt county. After all seats were set, the townships would be retuned .

Kossuth gave them back, Webster did not.

Turns out Asa Call may have been right, despite much of the north half of Kossuth county being tiled and no longer swampland the entire "double-tall" Kossuth county is only 54th in population as of 2023. Even splitting that in half (7,198) would make them both tied for 91st least populated, and split is probably more like 10,000+ in the southern half and MAYBE 4,000 in the former "Crocker" county. It would compete with Adams county for the least populous in Iowa.

 

[BCClone]

Ouch!!!!

Buf, heads up, Coach Dresser will be in Britt on Aug 24th for a benefit for an old family friend of his. Several wrestling connections through them also.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Parts of Warren County were taken by Polk County when they were deciding to move the capitol from Iowa City.

Polk County needed the additional population.

We're not taking any of the South side back.

 

[chuckd4735]

Parts of Warren County were taken by Polk County when they were deciding to move the capitol from Iowa City.

Polk County needed the additional population.

It's this true? I always figured it was because of the river and back in the days of horse travel, no good way to cross it.

 

[2122]

That county is Kossuth County. I believe it is larger because it had something to do with the number of counties in the state of Iowa, and the politics wanted an odd number? Maybe some historian can clarify thi

Kossuth, rhymes with tooth, right?

 

[2122]

Turns out Asa Call may have been right, despite much of the north half of Kossuth county being tiled and no longer swampland the entire "double-tall" Kossuth county is only 54th in population as of 2023. Even splitting that in half (7,198) would make them both tied for 91st least populated, and split is probably more like 10,000+ in the southern half and MAYBE 4,000 in the former "Crocker" county. It would compete with Adams county for the least populous in Iowa.

What's the prob with Adams? Anyone here in Adams Co?

 

[qwerty]

Kossuth, rhymes with tooth, right?

Ca - sooth.

 

[Sparkplug]

Yes.
Warren County, Iowa lost land to Polk County. This happened in 1846 when a supplementary bill was passed that effectively shifted 144 square miles from Warren County to Polk County.
This land transfer was a result of efforts to move Fort Des Moines closer to the geographical center of Polk County at the time. The Fort Des Moines advocates successfully secured this supplementary bill, leading to the eventual establishment of Fort Des Moines as the county seat in May 1846.
The shifted land eventually led to Polk County's southeastern boundary not being a straight line, but rather following the course of the Des Moines River, according to Polk County Iowa (.gov). However, in 1853, the Iowa Legislature restored most of the "borrowed" townships back to Warren County, with the exception of a few sections north of the Des Moines River in Camp Township.

 

[2122]

Ya know, those vintage county atlas books turn up at auction and always sell. Seems people collect them.

 

[Sparkplug]

Ya know, those vintage county atlas books turn up at auction and always sell. Seems people collect them.

I collect them. I find them on eBay. Ten years ago most farms were listed by the farmer’s name Now they are a trust or LLC

 

[clones_jer]

What's the prob with Adams? Anyone here in Adams Co?

No, no one is ever from Adams County.

It looks like Corning is the biggest thing going, and it's a pretty small town.

 

[NetflixAndClone]

For a short time, a couple years maybe, Kossuth County was split into 2 counties. The decision was made to do away with the north county. Sorry, I forgot what the north county was called. There was not many people that lived up north, and a few influential people didn’t want the area to be 2 counties, so it is Kossuth County.

This was the story I’ve heard as well. The north country at the time was too swampy so they combined it to make administration easier from the south.

 

[GoCy]

Ouch, that kind of talk is usually reserved for the bottom 2 tiers next to Missouri.

Fact: If the bottom 2 tiers of Iowa were given to Missouri, the IQ of both states would increase.

 

[drmwevr08]

I collect them. I find them on eBay. Ten years ago most farms were listed by the farmer’s name Now they are a trust or LLC

I have a 1915 Iowa township map on my wall right now.
This old geography stuff is fun, for me anyway. Thanks for the off-season thread.

 

[2122]

I collect them. I find them on eBay. Ten years ago most farms were listed by the farmer’s name Now they are a trust or LLC

This might give you a woody:

 

[FLYINGCYCLONE]

Fact: If the bottom 2 tiers of Iowa were given to Missouri, the IQ of both states would increase.

Somebody else took Iowa History while going to ISU. It was a fun class.