Clayton

Formed December 21, 1837 (11^th county)

Clayton County (17,045), Elkader (1,212), Guttenberg (1,814)

A tower and clock top the 1878 red brick building.  It was remodeled in 1896.  The building is at High and Bridge streets.  Iowa State Highway 56 is two blocks west of the courthouse.  O. F. Davis is the architect of this Italianate building.  The structure sits on the banks of the Turkey River.  The county was established on December 21, 1837 from parts of Dubuque County and Native American Territory as the 11^th county.  Prairie Le Port (1840), Jacksonville (1843), and Elkader (1876) have all been the county seat.  The county is named for Secretary of War John M. Clayton.  He is also provided the Delaware County’s name since he came from Delaware.  The county seat is named for Algerian leader Abd al Qadir. 

Clayton County government consists of a sheriff, a recorder, an attorney, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive).  It has 3 Supervisors (legislative.)  Twenty-seven District Court Judges and Sixteen Magistrates serve Clayton, Allamakee, Black Hawk, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Grundy, Howard, and Winneshiek counties (judicial.) Clayton County is in the northeast on the Mississippi River border with Wisconsin.  Cedar Rapids, Iowa is south and Waterloo, Iowa is southwest of the site.  The county center is 11.7 miles Southeast of Elkader nearer Garber.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Allamakee County and Wisconsin and Buchanan, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, and Winneshiek counties. 

The county has an area of 779 square miles.  It is 5 of 99 in the state.  It ranks 42 out of 99 in population in the state.  It has a density of 21.9 persons per square mile making it 68 out of 99 in the state.  Clayton County has 54.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 18 goes east to west in the county from Wisconsin to Fayette County.  United States Highway 52 travels southeast to northwest from Dubuque County to Allamakee County.  The county is shaped like a plow.  Elkader is in the western third of the county.  The largest city is in the southeast along the Mississippi River.  Elkader is the county seat and Guttenberg is the largest city.  Elkader is 7.1% of the county population while Guttenberg is 10.6% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced EL-KA-DER.  The largest city is pronounced GUE-TEN-BERG.