Lyon

Formed January 15, 1853 (82^nd county)

Lyon County (11,934), Rock Rapids (2,609)

The masonry Classical Revival design of the 1916 courthouse replaced a nicer 1875 courthouse.  The building is at 2^nd Avenue, and Story Street, 3^rd Avenue, and Marshall Street.  Iowa State Highway 9 is one block to the north of the site.  The courthouse designer is Joseph Schwarz.  A freedom stone is on the grounds.  The county was established on January 15, 1853 as Buncombe County from Woodbury County as the 82^nd county.  It was renamed in 1861 to Lyon after Mexican War hero General Nathaniel Lyon.  The county seat is named for the location on the Rock River.  Rock Rapids has always been the county seat. 

Lyon County government consists of a sheriff, a recorder, an attorney, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive).  It has 5 Supervisors (legislative.)  Twenty District Court Judges and Fourteen Magistrates serve Lyon, Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Crawford, Dickinson, Emmet, Ida, Kossuth, Monona, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Sioux, and Woodbury counties (judicial.) The county is located in the northwest corner of the state on the border with both South Dakota and Minnesota.  The county center is 3.2 miles Southeast of Rock Rapids.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Minnesota and Osceola and Sioux counties and South Dakota. 

The county has an area of 588 square miles.  It is 24 of 99 in the state.  It ranks 64 out of 99 in population in the state.  It has a density of 20.3 persons per square mile making it 70 out of 99 in the state.  Lyon County has 59.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 18 clips the southwest corner of the county from Sioux City, south, to South Dakota, west.  United States Highway 75 goes north to south in the county from Minnesota to Sioux County.  The county is a skinny rectangle except for the wandering river border on the west.  The county seat is in the northern third of the county.  Rock Rapids is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 21.9% of the county population.