Audubon

Formed December 15, 1851 (68^th county)

Audubon County (5,676), Audubon (2,056)

The tan brick and concrete building for Audubon County was erected in 1939.  It sits at Leroy and Broadway streets.  United States Highway 71 is three blocks west of the courthouse.  Keffer & Jones are the architects for this Art Deco and Modern style courthouse.  The grounds feature veteran memorials and the city park is across the street.  Hamlin’s Grove (1851), Exira (1861), and Audubon (1879) have all been the county seat.  Audubon has also had an 1884 courthouse.  The county was taken from parts of Black Hawk and Cass counties on December 15, 1851 as the 68^th county.  The county and county seat are named for naturalist John Audubon.  Audubon County was the birthplace of 1 Iowa Governor, Leo A. Hoegh. 

Audubon County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Supervisors.  Eleven District Court Judges and Sixteen Magistrates serve Audubon, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, and Shelby counties.  The county is in western Iowa.  Sioux City, Iowa is northwest and Des Moines, Iowa is east of the county.  The county center is 4.5 miles South-Southeast of Audubon nearer Hamlin.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Carroll, Guthrie, Cass, and Shelby counties. 

The county has an area of 443 square miles.  It is 78 of 99 in the state.  It ranks 97 out of 99 in population in the state.  It has a density of 12.8 persons per square mile making it 93 out of 99 in the state.  Audubon County has 58.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 71 goes north to south through the county from Carroll County to Cass County.  The county looks like a capital letter L with the southwest corner missing.  The City of Audubon is in the northwest quarter of the county.  Audubon is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 36.2% of the county population.  The county and county seat are pronounced A-DUE-BON.