Hardin

Formed January 15, 1851 (62^nd county)

Hardin County (16,873), Eldora (2,659), Iowa Falls (5,102)

The towering red brick building was erected in 1892 and is on a square at Edgington Avenue, 12^th Street, 14^th Avenue, and Washington Street.  Edgington Avenue is Iowa State Highway 175.  W. D. Allen provided the designs for this Victorian courthouse.  The facility was restored in 1970.  The structure features a working clock tower, veteran memorials, a canon, and a township map sidewalk.  Hardin County was established on January 15, 1851 from Black Hawk County as the 62^nd county with Eldora as the only county seat.  Mexican War hero Colonel John J. Hardin is the county’s namesake.  The county seat is named for the daughter of a settler. 

Hardin County government consists of a sheriff, a recorder, an attorney, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive).  It has 3 Supervisors (legislative.)  Thirty-one District Court Judges and Thirty-three Magistrates serve Hardin, Boone, Bremer, Butler, Calhoun, Carroll, Cerro Gordo, Floyd, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Humboldt, Marshall, Mitchell, Pocahontas, Sac, Story, Webster, Winnebago, Worth, and Wright counties (judicial.) Hardin County is in central Iowa west of Waterloo, Iowa and north of Des Moines, Iowa.  The county center is 7.7 miles Northwest of Eldora nearer Owasa.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Franklin, Butler, Grundy, Marshall, Story, Hamilton, and Wright counties. 

The county has an area of 569 square miles.  It is 53 of 99 in the state.  It ranks 43 out of 99 in population in the state.  It has a density of 29.7 persons per square mile making it 42 out of 99 in the state.  Hardin County has 74.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 20 travels east to west in the county from Grundy County to Hamilton County.  The county is a rectangle with the northern part shifted west.  Eldora is in the southeast quarter of the county.  Iowa Falls is near the northern border of the county.  Eldora is the county seat and Iowa Falls is the largest city.  Eldora is 15.8% of the county population while Iowa Falls is 30.2% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced EL-DOE-RA.