Lee County, Iowa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lee County
U.S. county
Courthouse located in Fort Madison
Location within the U.S. state of Iowa
Iowa's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Iowa
Founded	1836
Seat	Fort Madison and Keokuk
Largest city	Fort Madison
Area
• Total	539 sq mi (1,400 km2)
• Land	518 sq mi (1,340 km2)
• Water	21 sq mi (50 km2)  4.0%
Population  (2020)
• Total	33,555
• Estimate  (2023)	32,565
• Density	62.25/sq mi (24.036/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	1st

Historic Lee County Savings Bank

Lee County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,555. The county seats are Fort Madison and Keokuk. Lee County is part of the Fort Madison–Keokuk, IA–IL–MO Micropolitan Statistical Area. It was established in 1836.

History

Fort Madison dates to the War of 1812. Lee County was the location of the Half-Breed Tract, established by treaty in 1824. Allocations of land were made to American Indian descendants of European fathers and Indian mothers at this tract. Originally the land was to be held in common. Some who had an allocation lived in cities, where they hoped to make better livings. Lee County as a named entity was formed on December 7, 1836, under the jurisdiction of Wisconsin Territory. It would become a part of Iowa Territory when it was formed on July 4, 1838. Large-scale European-American settlement in the area began in 1839, after Congress allowed owners to sell land individually. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) under the direction of Brigham Young fled persecutions in Missouri to settle in Illinois and Iowa. Nauvoo, across the border in Hancock County, Illinois, became the main center of Latter-day Saints settlement, but there was also a Latter Day Saints stake organized in Lee County under the direction of John Smith, the uncle of Joseph Smith, land that was sold to them by Isaac Galland in 1839.

Lee has two county seats—Fort Madison and Keokuk. The latter was established in 1847 when disagreements led to a second court jurisdiction. Lee County's population grew to about 19,000 in 1850, the first US census, to 37,000 per the 3rd census in 1870, peaking at 44,000 people in 1960. It has continuously decreased since and as of 2020, 33,555 people lived there, comparable to the years between 1860 and 1870.

Name

There is no consensus about the derivation of the name "Lee." It has been variously proposed that the county was named for Marsh, Delevan & Lee, of Albany, New York, and the 'New York Land Company', who owned extensive interests in the Half-Breed Tract in the 1830s; Robert E. Lee, who surveyed the Des Moines Rapids; or Albert Lea, who helped explore the interior of Iowa.

Geography

Lee County, Iowa and the "Half Breed Tract" historic map detail from a 1905 Iowa Census Map

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 539 square miles (1,400 km²), of which 518 square miles (1,340 km²) is land and 21 square miles (54 km²) (4.0%) is water. The lowest point in the state of Iowa is located on the Mississippi River in Keokuk in Lee County, where it flows out of Iowa and into Missouri and Illinois.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 61
• U.S. Highway 136
• U.S. Highway 218
• Iowa Highway 2
• Iowa Highway 16
• Iowa Highway 27

Transit

• Fort Madison station

Adjacent counties

• Henry County (north)
• Des Moines County (northeast)
• Henderson County, Illinois (across the river east)
• Hancock County, Illinois (southeast)
• Clark County, Missouri (southwest)
• Van Buren County (west)

Demographics

Population of Lee County from US census data

2020 census

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

The 2020 census recorded a population of 33,555 in the county, with a population density of 62.0765/sq mi (23.9679/km²). 94.67% of the population reported being of one race. There were 15,858 housing units, of which 14,036 were occupied.

2010 census

The 2010 census recorded a population of 35,862 with a population density of 69.3133/sq mi (26.7620/km²). There were 16,205 housing units, of which only 14,610 were occupied.

Communities

Courthouse in Keokuk in 1900

Cities

Census-designated places

• Argyle
• Denmark
• Mooar
• Sandusky
• Wever

Other unincorporated communities

• Charleston
• Croton
• Mount Hamill
• New Boston
• Pilot Grove
• Primrose
• Viele
• Vincennes

Townships

Population ranking

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

† county seat

Notable people

• Cleng Peerson (1783–1865), pioneer settler in Lee County in 1840
• Richard Proenneke (1916–2003), naturalist, subject of books and documentary
• William Elliott Whitmore (born 1978), singer and songwriter
• Mark W. Balmert, U.S. Navy admiral
• Brad Bigler, head men's basketball coach at SMSU
• Ryan Bowen, NBA player
• James Duderstadt, President of the University of Michigan
• Todd Farmer, writer, actor, and film producer
• Bob Fry, professional golfer
• Kate Harrington, poet
• Thomas M. Hoenig, chief executive of the Tenth District Federal Reserve Bank, in Kansas City
• Patty Judge, 46th lieutenant governor
• Jerry Junkins, CEO of Texas Instruments, Incorporated
• Dick Klein, founder of the Chicago Bulls
• Dennis O'Keefe, actor, star of films such as Raw Deal
• James Theodore Richmond, writer and conservationist
• Aloysius Schulte, first President of St. Ambrose College
• Walter A. Sheaffer, founder of the W.A. Sheaffer Pen Company
• George Henry Williams, United States Senator
• Edward P. Alexander, author, historian, and educator
• Herman C. Baehr, 36th Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio
• William H. Clagett, politician
• Orion Clemens, first and only secretary of Nevada Territory and brother of Mark Twain
• William Lane Craig, analytic philosopher and Christian apologist
• Samuel Curtis, military officer
• Mary Fels, philanthropist, suffragist, Georgist
• Bud Fowler, first professional African American baseball player
• Nathaniel Lyon Gardner, botanist, born in Keokuk
• Jerry Harrington, baseball player
• James B. Howell, newspaper editor and U.S. senator, resided in Keokuk
• Howard Hughes, aviator, engineer, industrialist, film producer and director, and philanthropist
• Howard R. Hughes, Sr., businessman and inventor; father of Howard Hughes
• Rupert Hughes, novelist, screenwriter, film director, historian; uncle of Howard Hughes
• Dick Hutcherson, stock car driver
• Ron Hutcherson, stock car driver
• John N. Irwin, governor of Idaho Territory (1883) and of Arizona Territory (1890–1892)
• Edward Kimball, actor
• Lloyd Steel Lourie, orthodontist
• Samuel Taylor Marshall, lawyer and founder of Beta Theta Pi fraternity
• Elsa Maxwell, gossip columnist, socialite
• Edward Joseph McManus, U.S. federal judge and lieutenant governor of Iowa (1959–1961)
• Grace Medes, biochemist
• Samuel Freeman Miller, Supreme Court justice
• Conrad Nagel, actor and a founder of the Academy Awards
• Richard Page, lead vocalist and bass player for the band Mr. Mister
• George Pomutz, Union Army officer and diplomat
• Mike Pyle, NFL player
• Palmer Pyle, NFL player
• John M. Rankin, Iowa state legislator and judge
• Hugh T. Reid, Union Army general
• Jack Saltzgaver, Major League Baseball player, New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates
• Jeremy Soule composer of video game soundtracks
• Frank Steunenberg, governor of Idaho (1897–1901)
• Ramo Stott, stock car driver
• James Vandenberg, football quarterback
• Don White, stock car driver
• Verner Moore White, artist, painted oil of Keokuk presented to President Theodore Roosevelt
• Annie Turner Wittenmyer, social reformer and relief worker

Education

School districts include:

• Central Lee Community School District
• Fort Madison Community School District
• Keokuk Community School District
• Mount Pleasant Community School District
• Van Buren County Community School District

Former school districts:

• Harmony Community School District

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Lee (Iowa) para niños