Lee County, Iowa

The Lee County Courthouse in Fort Madison (responsible for the northern part of the county), listed on the NRHP since 1976

administration
The former US Post Office and Courthouse in Keokuk (today responsible for the southern part of the county), listed in the NRHP since 1974
US state :	Iowa
Administrative headquarters :	Fort Madison
Address of the administrative headquarters:	County Office Building 933 Avenue H Fort Madison, IA 52627-4540
Foundation :	December 7, 1836
Made up from:	Des Moines County
Area code :	001 319
Demographics
Residents :	35,862 (2010)
Population density :	26.8 inhabitants / km ²
geography
Total area :	1395 km²
Water surface :	55 km²
map

Website : www.leecounty.org

The Lee County is a county in the US state of Iowa . At the 2010 census , the county had 35,862 people and a population density of 26.8 people per square kilometer. With Fort Madison and Keokuk , the county has two administrative centers .

geography

The county is located in the extreme southeast of Iowa. The southeastern border with Missouri is formed by the Des Moines River , which flows into the Mississippi at the southernmost point of Iowa . This forms the border with Illinois . Lee County covers an area of 1,395 square kilometers, of which 55 square kilometers are water. It borders on the following neighboring counties:

	Henry County	Des Moines County
Van Buren County		Henderson County (Illinois)
Clark County, Missouri		Hancock County, Illinois

history

Lee County was formed on December 7, 1836 from former parts of Des Moines County. It was named after businessman William Elliott Lee , whose real estate company specialized in land reserved for half-blood Indians.

The first permanent settlement in what is now Lee County was Keokuk, founded in 1829 . After the county was formed in 1836, it was given its own administration in 1838. The designated administrative seat of Fort Madison was controversial from the start. Residents from more distant areas complained that the administrative center was very far from the center of the county. Over the years, various locations ( Franklin , West Point and Keokuk) have been proposed as administrative headquarters.

In 1841, Fort Madison was re-established as the administrative seat by popular vote. A court and administration building was opened in 1842. But that didn't end the argument either. Through a petition to the General Assembly (parliamentary assembly) of what was then Iowa Territory , the administrative headquarters were moved to West Point by a decision of the General Assembly . The city agreed to build a new court and administrative building by 1844. However, this did not materialize, so the administration remained in Fort Madison.

Due to a strong increase in population, the differences between the population centers Fort Madison and Keokuk intensified. For this reason, the General Assembly passed a law, according to which Lee County was the only county in Iowa with two equal administrative seats.

Today's court and administration building in Keokuk is the former post office built in 1890.

The Fort Madison courthouse and administration building still serves as the courthouse, while the administration moved to a new building in 1978.

There is a National Historic Landmark in Lee County , the tugboat George M. Verity . 42 other structures and sites in the county are on the National Register of Historic Places .

Demographic data

growth of population
Census	Residents	± in%
1840	6093	-
1850	18,861	209.6%
1860	29,232	55%
1870	37.210	27.3%
1880	34,859	-6.3%
1890	37,715	8.2%
1900	39,719	5.3%
1910	36,702	-7.6%
1920	39,676	8.1%
1930	41,268	4%
1940	41,074	-0.5%
1950	43.102	4.9%
1960	44.207	2.6%
1970	42,996	-2.7%
1980	43.106	0.3%
1990	38,687	-10.3%
2000	38.052	-1.6%
2010	35,862	-5.8%
Before 1900 1900–1990 2000–2010

According to the 2010 census , Lee County had 35,862 people in 14,644 households. The population density was 26.8 inhabitants per square kilometer.

The racial the population was composed of 93.5 percent white, 3.1 percent African American, 0.2 percent Native American, 0.5 percent Asian and other ethnic groups; 1.9 percent were descended from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race was 3.0 percent of the population.

Statistically, there were 2.29 people each in the 14,644 households.

22.2 percent of the population were under 18 years old, 60.9 percent were between 18 and 64 and 16.9 percent were 65 years or older. 49.4 percent of the population was female.

The median income for a household was 40,921 USD . The per capita income was $ 21,240. 14.9 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.