Howard

Formed December 15, 1851 (71^st county)

Howard County (9,468), Cresco (3,893)                

A tower sits on top of the red and white brick courthouse built in 1879.  It sits at Elm Street, North Park, 2^nd Avenue and South Park.  Iowa State Highway 9 is three blocks south of the facility.  J. L. Harlow provided the designs for this Italianate-Classical courthouse.  The building was enlarged in 1964.  The grounds feature memorials.  The city and the courthouse grounds have children statues on benches.  The county was formed on December 15, 1851 from Chickasaw County as the 71^st county.  Vernon Springs (1855), Howard Center (1855), Pikes Peak (1859), and Cresco (1867) have all been the county seat.  It is named for Indiana Congressman Tilghman Howard.  The county seat’s name is Latin for “I grow.” 

Howard County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Supervisors.  Twenty-seven District Court Judges and Sixteen Magistrates serve Howard, Allamakee, Black Hawk, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Grundy, and Winneshiek counties.  The county is on the northern border with Minnesota.  Waterloo, Iowa is south.  The county center is 9.3 miles West of Cresco nearer Lime Springs.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Minnesota and Winneshiek, Chickasaw, Floyd, and Mitchell counties. 

The county has an area of 473 square miles.  It is 75 of 99 in the state.  It ranks 79 out of 99 in population in the state.  It has a density of 20.0 persons per square mile making it 73 out of 99 in the state.  Howard County has 59.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 63 goes through the county north to south from Minnesota to Chickasaw County.  The county is a rectangle.  Cresco is located near the eastern border of the county.  Cresco is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 41.1% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced KRES-KOE.