Butler County, Iowa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Butler County
U.S. county
Butler County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Iowa
Iowa's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Iowa
Founded	1851
Named for	William Orlando Butler
Seat	Allison
Largest city	Parkersburg
Area
• Total	582 sq mi (1,510 km2)
• Land	580 sq mi (1,500 km2)
• Water	1.6 sq mi (4 km2)  0.3%
Population  (2020)
• Total	14,334
• Density	24.629/sq mi (9.509/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	4th

Butler County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,334. Its county seat is Allison. The county was organized in 1854 and named for General William O. Butler.

History

Butler County was formed on January 15, 1851, from open land. It was named after Kentucky native William Orlando Butler, a general and hero of the Mexican–American War, who ran as Vice President of the United States in 1848. Until 1854, the county was governed by other counties. Only at this time did it have enough inhabitants to establish its own local government. The first court proceedings were conducted in a small log cabin of a settler. In 1858, the first courthouse was completed in Clarksville. After it was sold shortly thereafter to the local school district, it was used as a schoolhouse from 1863 until 1903.

Clarksville was the first county seat, from 1854 to 1860, after which Butler Center became the seat. Because locals became disenchanted with Butler Center (partially because of its inaccessibility during the winter), Allison was made the county seat on January 10, 1881, after the tracks of the Dubuque and Dakota Railroad had been laid there.

Butler County is the only county in Iowa that does not have any stop lights, four-lane roads (US Highway or interstate), a hospital, or a movie theatre. There are also no national fast-food chains in Butler county.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 582 square miles (1,510 km²), of which 580 square miles (1,500 km²) is land and 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²) (0.3%) is water.

Major highways

• Iowa Highway 3
• Iowa Highway 14
• Iowa Highway 57
• Iowa Highway 188

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Population of Butler County from US census data

2020 census

2022 US Census population pyramid for Butler County from ACS 5-year estimates

The 2020 census recorded a population of 14,334 in the county, with a population density of 24.5860/sq mi (9.4927/km²). 97.49% of the population reported being of one race. 95.19% were non-Hispanic White, 0.18% were Black, 1.28% were Hispanic, 0.17% were Native American, 0.20% were Asian, 0.00% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander and 2.99% were some other race or more than one race. There were 6,536 housing units of which 5,992 were occupied.

2010 census

The 2010 census recorded a population of 14,867 in the county, with a population density of 25.63/sq mi (9.90/km²). There were 6,682 housing units, of which 6,120 were occupied.

Communities

Cities

Unincorporated communities

• Austinville
• Kesley
• Packard

Townships

Butler County is divided into sixteen townships:

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Butler County.

† county seat

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Butler (Iowa) para niños