Boone County, Iowa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Boone County
U.S. county
Boone County Courthouse
Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Iowa
Iowa's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Iowa
Founded	January 13, 1846
Seat	Boone
Largest city	Boone
Area
• Total	574 sq mi (1,490 km2)
• Land	572 sq mi (1,480 km2)
• Water	2.1 sq mi (5 km2)  0.4%
Population  (2020)
• Total	26,715
• Density	46.54/sq mi (17.970/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	4th

Boone County is a county in the state of Iowa. It is located in the central part of Iowa.

As of the 2020 census, about 26,715 people lived there. The main town and county seat (where the county government is) is Boone.

Boone County is part of a larger area called the Boone, IA Micropolitan Statistical Area. This area is also included in the bigger Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA Combined Statistical Area.

History of Boone County

The land that is now Boone County used to belong to the Sac and Fox Native American nation. They gave this land to the United States in a special agreement called a treaty. This treaty was signed on October 11, 1842.

On January 13, 1846, the government of the Indiana Territory decided to create twelve new counties in the Iowa Territory. Boone County was one of them.

The county was named after Captain Nathan Boone. He was the son of a famous American pioneer named Daniel Boone. Daniel Boone helped create the Wilderness Trail and started a settlement called Boonesborough, Kentucky.

In 1851, the people living in the county chose Boonesboro as their county seat. The first building there was a simple log house. It was used as a temporary office and courthouse. Later, a two-story building was built in 1856. A larger, three-story building replaced it in 1868.

Another nearby settlement, Montana, became a town in 1866 when a railway station was built there. It was renamed Boone in 1871. Boone grew bigger and eventually took over Boonesboro in 1887. This made Boone the official county seat.

The second courthouse became too small as more people moved to the county. So, a new building was constructed. This is the current courthouse, and it was finished in 1917.

Geography of Boone County

Boone County covers a total area of about 574 square miles. Most of this area, about 572 square miles, is land. The rest, about 2.1 square miles, is water. This means only a small part (0.4%) of the county is water.

Main Roads in Boone County

Several important roads run through Boone County:

• U.S. Highway 30 is a major road that goes from east to west through the middle of the county. It passes through towns like Beaver, Ogden, and Jordan.
• U.S. Highway 169 comes from Webster County in the north. It runs through the western part of Boone County. When it meets US 30, it goes east for three miles to Ogden. Then it turns south towards Dallas County.
• Iowa Highway 17 runs south through the eastern part of Boone County to Jordan. It then goes west for one mile and continues south to the border with Dallas and Polk counties.
• Iowa Highway 144 crosses the very southwest corner of the county. It runs from northwest to southeast.
• Iowa Highway 210 enters the county from the south at Woodward. It then goes east and northeast across the southern part of the county towards Story County.

Neighboring Counties

Boone County shares its borders with several other counties:

• Dallas County to the south
• Greene County to the west
• Hamilton County to the north and northeast
• Polk County to the south and southeast
• Story County to the east
• Webster County to the north and northwest

People in Boone County (Demographics)

The number of people living in Boone County has changed over the years. Here's how the population has grown since 1850:

Population of Boone County from US census data

What the 2020 Census Shows

In 2020, the census counted 26,715 people in Boone County. This means there were about 46 people living in each square mile. This is called population density.

Most people (96.05%) said they belonged to one race. About 90.71% were non-Hispanic White. Other groups included 1.13% Black, 2.65% Hispanic, 0.24% Native American, and 0.37% Asian. A small number (0.01%) were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. About 4.88% were from other races or more than one race.

There were 11,921 homes in the county. Out of these, 10,981 homes were lived in.

This chart shows the age groups of people in Boone County in 2022.

What the 2010 Census Showed

The 2010 census counted 26,306 people in Boone County. The population density was about 46 people per square mile. There were 11,756 homes, and 10,728 of them were occupied.

Communities in Boone County

Boone County has several cities and smaller communities.

Cities in Boone County

Unincorporated Communities

These are smaller places that are not officially cities or towns.

Townships

A township is a small area of land within a county. Boone County is divided into these townships:

How Communities Rank by Population

This table shows the cities and towns in Boone County, ranked by how many people lived there in the 2020 census. † county seat

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Boone (Iowa) para niños