Henry County, Iowa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Henry County
U.S. county
Henry County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Iowa
Iowa's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Iowa
Founded	December 7, 1836
Named for	Henry Dodge
Seat	Mount Pleasant
Largest city	Mount Pleasant
Area
• Total	437 sq mi (1,130 km2)
• Land	434 sq mi (1,120 km2)
• Water	2.2 sq mi (6 km2)  0.5%
Population  (2020)
• Total	20,482
• Estimate  (2023)	19,547
• Density	46.87/sq mi (18.096/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	2nd

Henry County is a place in Iowa, a state in the United States. It's like a big neighborhood or district. In 2020, about 20,482 people lived here. The main town, or county seat, is Mount Pleasant. The county got its name from General Henry Dodge, who was a governor of the Wisconsin Territory a long time ago.

History of Henry County

Henry County was officially created on December 7, 1836. At that time, it was part of the Wisconsin Territory. Later, on July 4, 1838, it became part of the Iowa Territory when that territory was formed. It was named after General Henry Dodge.

The first building used as a courthouse in Henry County was built between 1839 and 1840. A bigger courthouse was built in 1871. The current courthouse, which you can see today, started being used on August 4, 1914.

Geography and Location

Henry County covers a total area of about 437 square miles (1,132 square kilometers). Most of this area, about 434 square miles (1,124 square kilometers), is land. Only a small part, about 2.2 square miles (5.7 square kilometers), is water.

Main Roads in Henry County

Several important roads pass through Henry County, making it easy to travel around.

• U.S. Highway 34
• U.S. Highway 218/Iowa Highway 27
• Iowa Highway 16
• Iowa Highway 78

Public Transportation

• Mount Pleasant station is a train station in the county.

Neighboring Counties

Henry County shares borders with several other counties:

• Washington County to the north
• Louisa County to the northeast
• Des Moines County to the east
• Lee County to the south
• Van Buren County to the southwest
• Jefferson County to the west

Population and People

Population of Henry County from US census data

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

The population of Henry County changes over time. In the 2020 census, 20,482 people lived here. This means there were about 47 people living in each square mile.

Most people in Henry County reported being of one race (95.23%). There were 8,398 homes, and 7,746 of them were lived in.

Who Lives in Henry County?

Here's a look at the different groups of people living in Henry County, based on the 2020 census:

Cities and Towns

Henry County has several cities and smaller communities.

Cities in Henry County

Smaller Communities (Unincorporated)

These places are not officially cities but are still communities where people live. Some are called "CDP" which means census-designated place.

Townships

Henry County is also divided into smaller areas called townships.

Biggest Communities by Population

This table shows the communities in Henry County from largest to smallest, based on the 2020 census. † means it's the county seat (the main town).

Schools in Henry County

Students in Henry County attend schools in several different school districts:

• Danville Community School District
• Fairfield Community School District
• Fort Madison Community School District
• Mount Pleasant Community School District
• New London Community School District
• Van Buren County Community School District
• Waco Community School District
• Winfield-Mount Union Community School District

One school district that used to be in the area is the Harmony Community School District.

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Henry (Iowa) para niños