Dickinson

Formed August 15, 1857 (96^th county)

Dickinson County (17,704), Spirit Lake (5,440)

A red brick and stone Modern courthouse was erected in 2008 to replace the 1891 structure. The building is at 18^th, Jackson, 19^th, and Hill streets.  18^th Street is United States Highway 71 in Spirit Lake.  RDG Planning and Design are the architects.  The grounds feature a free-standing tower and veteran memorials.  The county was founded on August 15, 1857 from Kossuth County as the 96^th county with Spirit Lake as the only county seat.  It is named for New York Senator Daniel S. Dickinson.  Spirit Lake is named for the lake. 

Dickinson County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Supervisors.  Twenty District Court Judges and Fourteen Magistrates serve Dickinson, Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Crawford, Emmet, Ida, Lyon, Kossuth, Monona, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Sioux, and Woodbury counties.  The county is in northwest Iowa on the border with Minnesota.  Sioux City, Iowa is southwest and Des Moines, Iowa is southeast of the site.  The county center is 5.9 miles West-Southwest of Spirit Lake nearer Wahpeton.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Minnesota and Emmet, Clay, and Osceola counties. 

The county has an area of 381 square miles.  It is 99 of 99 in the state.  It ranks 39 out of 99 in population in the state.  It has a density of 46.5 persons per square mile making it 26 out of 99 in the state.  Dickinson County has 75.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 71 crosses north to south through the county from Minnesota to Clay County.  The county is a rectangle.  Spirit Lake is in the northern third of the county.  Spirit Lake is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 30.7% of the county population.  This county is in the Spirit Lake Micropolitan Statistical Area.

West Okoboji