Page

Formed April 24, 1847 (48^th county)

Page County (15,213), Clarinda (5,373)

The classic Italianate red brick building was erected in 1885 in a city square at Main, 15^th, Washington, and 16^th streets.  Iowa State Highway 2 Business is 16^th Street.  Foster and Leibbe are the courthouse designers.  The courthouse was remodeled in 1996.  The facility features a clock tower and the grounds have veteran memorials.  Page County was created on April 24, 1847 from Pottawattamie County as the 48^th county with Clarinda as the only county seat.  It is named for Captain John Page, hero of Mexican War Battle of Palo Alto.  The county seat is named for the niece of one of the city founders. 

The county has an area of 535 square miles.  It is 63 of 99 in the state.  It ranks 50 out of 99 in population in the state.  It has a density of 28.4 persons per square mile making it 47 out of 99 in the state.  Page County has 77.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 71 travels north to south in the county from Montgomery County to Missouri.  The county is a rectangle with an eastern jog in the middle.  Clarinda is in the eastern third of the county.  Clarinda is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 35.3% of the county population. 

Page County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Supervisors.  Eleven District Court Judges and Sixteen Magistrates serve Page, Audubon, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Pottawattamie, and Shelby counties.  Page County is in the southwest part of Iowa on the border with Missouri.  Council Bluffs, Iowa is northwest and Des Moines, Iowa is northeast of the county.  The county center is 6.6 miles West-Northwest of Clarinda nearer Yorktown.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Montgomery, Adams, and Taylor counties and Missouri and Fremont and Mills counties.  The county seat is pronounced CLA-RIN-DA.