Chickasaw County, Iowa

Chickasaw County, Iowa
Chickasaw County court house built in 1929
Location in the U.S. state of Iowa
Iowa's location in the U.S.
Founded	1851
Named for	Chickasaw people
Seat	New Hampton
Largest city	New Hampton
Area
• Total	506 sq mi (1,311 km2)
• Land	504 sq mi (1,305 km2)
• Water	1.3 sq mi (3 km2), 0.3%
Population
• (2010)	12,439
• Density	25/sq mi (10/km²)
Congressional district	4th
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.chickasawcoia.org

Chickasaw County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,439. Its county seat is New Hampton. The county was named for the southern Indian Nation whose chief was Bradford.

Chickasaw County was founded on January 15, 1851. It was named after the Chickasaw tribe, which lived in the Southern United States at the time.

The first white settlers came in 1848 and the first county seat was from 1854 in Bradford, in the southwestern corner of the county. In the spring of 1857, the seat was moved to New Hampton, located near the geographic center, and was then called Chickasaw Center. The first offices needed of the county government were housed in private houses and the school building. In 1865, the first courthouse was erected, which was expanded in 1876, and completely destroyed by a fire on March 26, 1880.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 506 square miles (1,310 km²), of which 504 square miles (1,310 km²) is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²) (0.3%) is water.

The 2010 census recorded a population of 12,439 in the county, with a population density of 24.632/sq mi (9.510/km²). There were 5,679 housing units, of which 5,204 were occupied.

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,095 people, 5,192 households, and 3,644 families residing in the county. The population density was 26 people per square mile (10/km²). There were 5,593 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.75% White, 0.05% Black or African American, 0.03% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. 0.63% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.