Johnson County, Iowa

History

Johnson County was created on December 21, 1837 by the legislature of the Wisconsin Territory. The county was carved out of territory formerly in Dubuque County, and was not initially provided with a civil government, instead being governed by Cedar County officials. It was named for the US Vice President Richard M. Johnson.

The first courthouse in the county was a two story log cabin structure, built in 1838 in the town of Napoleon, about two miles south of the current courthouse. The building stood across from what later would become the James McCollister Farmstead on land later owned by Philip Clark.

After Iowa City was established by fiat as the new territorial capitol of Iowa, the county seat was removed there. The second Johnson County Courthouse, the first in Iowa City, was built on Lot 8 Block 8 of the County Seat Addition to Iowa City in 1842 for $3,690. This location was in the southeast corner of the intersection of Harrison and Clinton Streets. The building was intended to be 56 x 28 feet and two stories tall. The building was built by James Trimble, who had previously built the first jail.

A third courthouse was built in 1857 in the courthouse square located on Clinton Street between Court and Harrison Streets. It was used until it was found to be dangerous due to cracks in the south wall in 1899. The building was apparently built of brick with stone and wood ornamentation.

The Richardsonian Romanesque style courthouse in use today was designed by the firm of Rush, Bowman and Rush of Grand Rapids, MI. It was bid at a cost of $111,000 and built by the firm Rowson and Son of Johnson County. The cornerstone was laid in December 1899. The building's tower was based on Henry Hobson Richardson's design for the spire of Trinity Church in Boston. The building was dedicated on June 8, 1901. The currently unused jail that stands to the west of the courthouse was designed by C.L. Wundt of Burlington on behalf of the Stewart Iron Works, Cleveland, OH and bid for $14,000.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 623 square miles (1,610 km²), of which 614 square miles (1,590 km²) is land and 9.1 square miles (24 km²) (1.5%) is water.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

2010 census

The 2010 census recorded a population of 130,882 in the county, with a population density of 212.9964/sq mi (82.2384/km²). There were 55,967 housing units, of which 52,715 were occupied.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 111,006 people, 44,080 households, and 23,582 families residing in the county. The population density was 181 people per square mile (70/km²). There were 45,831 housing units at an average density of 75 per square mile (29/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.13% White, 2.90% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 4.12% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.01% from other races, and 1.51% from two or more races. 2.51% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 44,080 households out of which 26.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.90% were married couples living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.50% were non-families. 30.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.97.

Age spread: 20.10% under the age of 18, 23.40% from 18 to 24, 30.80% from 25 to 44, 18.20% from 45 to 64, and 7.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 99.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,060, and the median income for a family was $60,112. Males had a median income of $36,279 versus $29,793 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,220. About 5.20% of families and 15.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.10% of those under age 18 and 3.80% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Largely as a result of the presence of the University of Iowa, Johnson County is the most liberal leaning county in Iowa and a stronghold of the Democratic Party. In fact, it has been the strongest Democratic county in the state since 1984. The last Republican to win the county in a presidential election was Richard Nixon in 1960, this is true in state elections as well, where Johnson County is often the lone county to vote against the Republican in landslide elections, such as Senator Grassley's landslide re-election wins in 2010 and 2016 or Terry Branstad's landslide re-election in 2014.

Census-designated place

Ghost towns

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Johnson County.

† county seat

Notable natives