Butler

Formed January 15, 1851 (54^th county)

Butler County (14,867), Allison (1,029), Parkersburg (1,870)

The 1975 dark red/brown brick Modern style building sits at Main Street between 6^th and 7^th streets.  Iowa State Highway 3 is seven blocks south of the site.  Cervett-Weber & Associates are the architects.  A veteran’s memorial sits across 6^th Street from the courthouse.  An earlier courthouse was built in 1883.  The county was established on January 15, 1851 but didn’t have a courthouse until 1858 in Clarksville.  The county was taken from parts of Black Hawk and Buchanan counties as the 54^th county.  The county is named for Mexican War hero General William Orlando Butler.  The county seat’s namesake is Senator William Boyd Allison. 

Butler County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Supervisors.  Thirty-one District Court Judges and Thirty-three Magistrates serve Butler, Boone, Bremer, Calhoun, Carroll, Cerro Gordo, Floyd, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Humboldt, Marshall, Mitchell, Pocahontas, Sac, Story, Webster, Winnebago, Worth, and Wright counties.  The county is in the north central part of the state.  Waterloo, Iowa is southeast and Des Moines, Iowa is southwest of the county.  The county center is 2.5 miles Southeast of Allison.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Floyd, Chickasaw, Bremer, Black Hawk, Grundy, Hardin, Franklin, and Cerro Gordo counties. 

The county has an area of 580 square miles.  It is 30 of 99 in the state.  It ranks 55 out of 99 in population in the state.  It has a density of 24.7 persons per square mile making it 55 out of 99 in the state.  Butler County has 63.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county.  The county is a square with Allison slightly north of center in the county.  The largest city is located on the southern border of the county.  Allison is the county seat and Parkersburg is the largest city.  Allison is 6.7% of the county population while Parkersburg is 14.1% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced AL-I-SON.

Greene