99 Things You Didn’t Know About Iowa’s 99 Counties [LIST]

Iowa may not have a lot of people, but it has a lot of counties.

99 to be exact.

And each county is known for something. Many, for much more than one thing, but I thought it would be fun to poke through the history of our counties, and find a fun fact about all of 'em.

I've put them together, and you can see them all below!

Iowa's 99 Counties: A Brief History

As you likely know, Iowa became a state in late 1846.

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But Iowa actually had two counties prior to statehood. Both Des Moines County and Dubuque County were created over a decade earlier, in 1834, when Iowa was still part of the Michigan Territory.

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Under Iowa’s 1857 Constitution, still in use today, each county must be at least 432 square miles in size, and no boundary change can shrink a county below that minimum.

Iowa Wasn't Always a 99-County State

So, a couple of counties existed pre-statehood, and we became a state in 1846. Fast forward years and years, and we have 99 counties.

Along the way, a few merged or became a different county:

• Bancroft (1851–1855), merged with Kossuth County
• Cook (1836–1837), merged with Muscatine County
• Crocker (1870–1871), merged with Kossuth County
• Risley (1851–1853), formed Hamilton County
• Yell (1851–1853), formed Webster County

Needless to say, these former counties won't be included in the gallery list below.

99 Counties and 99 Facts

Let's just in! Check out fun facts about each Iowa county. How many of these can you say you knew?

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I bet not most of them! Let me know if I'm right or wrong. Feel free to impress your trivia-loving friends, and enjoy!