Calhoun County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,927. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Rockwell City.

History

Calhoun County was formed on January 15, 1851, from open land originally named ''Fox County''. It was renamed in 1853 after the seventh US vice president secessionist John C. Calhoun. When the tracks of the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

were laid through the county in 1870, the county seat was moved from Lake City to Rockwell City. The first train reached Rockwell City on August 7, 1882, and the population count doubled in the same year. The first courthouse, built of wood, burned to the ground in 1884 and the county government moved into a nearby hotel. In 1913, the current courthouse was built. On July 6, 1893, Pomeroy was struck by a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

that measured F5 on the Fujita scale. With a damage path wide and long, the tornado destroyed about 80% of the homes in Pomeroy. The tornado killed 71 people and injured 200.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water.

Ecology

Calhoun County is located entirely within the Des Moines Lobe of the Western Corn Belt Plains ecoregion, as defined by the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

(EPA). One of the flattest regions in Iowa, the Des Moines Lobe ecoregion is a distinctive area naturally defined by

Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin glaciation, also called the Wisconsin glacial episode, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated ...

but modified by humans for extensive agriculture. In general, the land is level to gently rolling with some areas of relief defined by glacial features like

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

s, hummocky knobs, and

kettle A kettle, sometimes called a tea kettle or teakettle, is a device specialized for boiling water, commonly with a ''lid'', ''spout'', and ''handle''. There are two main types: the ''stovetop kettle'', which uses heat from a cooktop, hob, and the ...

s, and outwash deposits. The lobe does not have any

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

deposits like the

Loess Hills The Loess Hills are a formation of wind-deposited loess soil in the westernmost parts of Iowa and Missouri, and the easternmost parts of Nebraska and Kansas, along the Missouri River. Geology The Loess (, , or ) Hills are generally located be ...

to the west. The stream network is poorly developed and widely spaced, with major rivers carving valleys that are relatively deep and steep-sided. Almost all of the natural lakes of Iowa are found in the northern part of this region (the Iowa Great Lakes). Most of the region has been converted from wet prairie to agricultural use with substantial surface water drainage. Only a small fraction of the

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

s remain, and many natural lakes have been drained as a result of agricultural drainage projects via drainage tiles or

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate trench created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ...

es.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 20 * Circle sign 4

Iowa Highway 4 * Circle sign 7

Iowa Highway 7 * Elongated circle 175

Iowa Highway 175

Adjacent counties

* Pocahontas County (north) * Webster County (east) * Greene County (southeast) * Carroll County (southwest) * Sac County (west)

Demographics

2020 census

The 2020 census recorded a population of 9,927 in the county, with a population density of . 97.22% of the population reported being of one race. 91.88% were non-Hispanic White, 1.53% were Black, 2.38% were Hispanic, 0.24% were Native American, 0.26% were Asian, 0.08% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander and 3.63% were some other race or more than one race. There were 4,771 housing units of which 4,070 were occupied.

2010 census

The 2010 census recorded a population of 9,670 in the county, with a population density of . There were 5,108 housing units, of which 4,242 were occupied.

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 11,115 people, 4,513 households, and 3,014 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 5,219 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.06%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.69%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.20% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.34% from other races, and 0.52% from two or more races. 0.90% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 4,513

household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s, out of which 27.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.90% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.20% were non-families. 30.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.87. In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.10% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 24.80% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 22.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 98.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.60 males. The median income for a household in the county was $33,286, and the median income for a family was $41,583. Males had a median income of $28,787 versus $20,095 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $17,498. 10.10% of the population and 7.10% of families were below the

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

line. Out of the total population, 13.50% of those under the age of 18 and 8.50% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Communities

Cities

* Farnhamville * Jolley * Knierim * Lake City * Lohrville * Lytton * Manson * Pomeroy * Rinard * Rockwell City * Somers * Yetter

Unincorporated communities

* Easley * Knoke * Sherwood * Twin Lakes, a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

Townships

Calhoun County is divided into sixteen townships: *

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

* Calhoun * Cedar * Center * Elm Grove *

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...

* Greenfield * Jackson * Lake Creek * Lincoln * Logan *

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

* Sherman * Twin Lakes * Union * Williams

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Calhoun County. † ''county seat''

Politics

Politically, Calhoun County has favored the Republicans since 1896, usually only voting Democratic when the party won national victories. It first voted for the Democrats in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

when

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

won in a landslide victory against

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

. In 2000, Calhoun County voted for

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and has voted for the Republicans ever since. In 2016

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

won 67.2% percent of the vote in Calhoun County, the highest vote share since Dwight D. Eisenhower's victory in 1952. In 2020 and 2024, Trump increased it to 70.2% and 72.7% respectively, the highest percentages for any party in the county since

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...

a century earlier.

References

External links

County websiteGraphic-Advocate Newspaper
{{coord, 42, 23, 10, N, 94, 38, 50, W, region:US-IA_type:adm2nd_source:dewiki, display=title 1855 establishments in Iowa Populated places established in 1855