Mills

Formed January 15, 1851 (64^th county)

Mills County (14,486), Glenwood (5,073)

A Modern concrete courthouse was built in 1959 to replace the 1857 building.  The courthouse is at Sharp, Vine, 1^st, and Walnut streets.  Sharp Street is United States Highway 34 Business in the town.  The building designers are B. H. Backlund and Associates.  The grounds feature veteran memorials.  Mills County was formed on January 15, 1851 from Pottawattamie County as the 64^th county with Glenwood as the only county seat.  It is named for Mexican War hero Major Frederick Mills.  The county seat was originally called Coonsville but renamed for Minister Glenn Wood. 

Mills County government consists of a sheriff, a recorder, an attorney, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive).  It has 3 Supervisors (legislative.)  Eleven District Court Judges and Sixteen Magistrates serve Mills, Audubon, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, and Shelby counties (judicial.) The county is in the southwest part of the state on the Missouri River border with Nebraska.  Council Bluffs, Iowa is immediately north of the county.  The county center is 6.2 miles East-Northeast of Glenwood nearer Silver City.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Pottawattamie, Montgomery, Page, and Fremont counties and Nebraska. 

The county has an area of 437 square miles.  It is 80 of 99 in the state.  It ranks 54 out of 99 in population in the state.  It has a density of 33.1 persons per square mile making it 35 out of 99 in the state.  Mills County has 50.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 29 passes north to south through the county from Pottawattamie County to Fremont County.  United States Highway 34 goes east to west from Montgomery County to Nebraska.  United States Highway 59 travels the eastern part of the county north to south from Pottawattamie County to Fremont County.  United States Highway 275 enters joined with Interstate Highway 29 from Pottawattamie County, splits and parallels it into Fremont County.  The county is a rectangle except for its wandering western border.  Glenwood is located in the western quarter of the county.  Glenwood is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 35.0% of the county population.  This county is in the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Statistical Area.