Warren

Formed December 13, 1846 (43^rd county)

Warren County (52,402), Indianola (15,836)                

The tan brick and masonry building was constructed in 1938.  It is situated on a square at Buxton, Ashland, Howard and Salem streets.  United States Highway 65 is three blocks east of the facility.  Keffer and Jones were the Art Deco building architects.  The courthouse was enlarged in 1989.  Inside the building are marble walls and the grounds have a gazebo and flowerpots.  The county was organized on December 13, 1846 with Indianola, the only county seat, having a previous courthouse built in 1868.  The county was taken from Polk County as the 43^rd county.  Warren County is named for Revolutionary War General Joseph Warren.  The county seat is named for Indianola, Texas. 

Warren County government consists of a sheriff, a recorder, an attorney, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive).  It has 3 Supervisors (legislative.)  Fifty-nine District Court Judges and Twenty-one Magistrates serve Warren, Adair, Adams, Clarke, Dallas, Decatur, Guthrie, Jasper, Lucas, Madison, Marion, Polk, Ringgold, Taylor, Union, and Wayne counties (judicial.) The county is located in southern Iowa directly south of Des Moines, Iowa.  The county center is in Indianola 1.2 miles South of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Polk, Marion, Lucas, Clarke, and Madison counties. 

The county has an area of 572 square miles.  It is 44 of 99 in the state.  It ranks 11 out of 99 in population in the state.  It has a density of 91.6 persons per square mile making it 13 out of 99 in the state.  Warren County has 70.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 35 travels north to south in the county from Polk County to Clarke County.  United States Highway 65 enters from the north, Polk County, and exits to the south, Lucas County.  United States Highway 69 is joined with United States Highway 65 from Polk County and continues to parallel Interstate Highway 35 into Clarke County.  The county is a rectangle with a wavy northeast corner.  Indianola is slightly north of center in the county.  Indianola is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 30.2% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced IN-DEE-AN-OE-LA.  This county is in the Des Moines-West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.

West Des Moines