Chickasaw County, Iowa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chickasaw County
U.S. county
Chickasaw County court house built in 1929
Location within the U.S. state of Iowa
Iowa's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Iowa
Founded	January 15, 1851
Named for	Chickasaw people
Seat	New Hampton
Largest city	New Hampton
Area
• Total	506 sq mi (1,310 km2)
• Land	504 sq mi (1,310 km2)
• Water	1.3 sq mi (3 km2)  0.3%
Population  (2020)
• Total	12,012
• Density	23.739/sq mi (9.166/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	2nd

Chickasaw County is a county in the state of Iowa, USA. In 2020, about 12,012 people lived there. The main town, or county seat, is New Hampton. The county got its name from the Chickasaw people, a Native American group from the southern United States.

History of Chickasaw County

Chickasaw County was started in January 1851. It was named after the Chickasaw tribe. This tribe lived in the Southern United States at that time.

The first non-Native American settlers came in 1848. The first county seat was in Bradford, starting in 1854. In 1857, the county seat moved to New Hampton. This new location was closer to the center of the county.

At first, county offices were in private homes and the local school. The first courthouse was a wooden building built in 1865. It was made bigger in 1876. But a fire destroyed it on March 26, 1880. Luckily, people saved the important records. A new building made of brick and stone was finished in 1881. It had a tall clock tower. This building was also made bigger in 1905 and 1906. However, by the 1920s, it was too small again. The current courthouse, made of Bedford stone, was built in 1929 and opened in 1930.

Geography of Chickasaw County

Chickasaw County covers about 506 square miles (1,311 square kilometers). Most of this area is land. Only a small part, about 1.3 square miles, is water.

Neighboring Counties

Chickasaw County shares borders with these other counties:

• Bremer County (to the south)
• Butler County (to the southwest)
• Fayette County (to the southeast)
• Floyd County (to the west)
• Howard County (to the north)
• Mitchell County (to the northwest)
• Winneshiek County (to the northeast)

Main Highways in the County

Several important roads pass through Chickasaw County:

• U.S. Highway 18
• U.S. Highway 63
• U.S. Highway 218
• Iowa Highway 24
• Iowa Highway 27
• Iowa Highway 346

Population and People

Population of Chickasaw County from US census data

2020 Census Information

In 2020, the census counted 12,012 people living in Chickasaw County. This means there were about 24 people for every square mile. Most people (96.29%) said they belonged to one race. About 89.67% were non-Hispanic White. Other groups included Black people (0.67%), Hispanic people (4.00%), Native Americans (0.17%), and Asian people (0.25%). A small number were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (0.06%). About 5.18% were of another race or more than one race. There were 5,534 homes, and 5,022 of them were lived in.

This chart shows the age groups in Chickasaw County in 2022.

2010 Census Information

The 2010 census showed that 12,439 people lived in the county. There were 5,679 homes, and 5,204 of them were occupied.

Towns and Communities

Chickasaw County has several cities and smaller communities.

Cities in Chickasaw County

Smaller Unincorporated Communities

These places are not officially cities or towns:

Townships in the County

A township is a small area within a county. Chickasaw County has these townships:

Population Ranking of Cities (2020)

This table shows the cities in Chickasaw County from largest to smallest by population in 2020.

† means it is the county seat

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Chickasaw (Iowa) para niños