Pocahontas County is a county located in Iowa, United States. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 7,310. The county was created in 1851. The county seat is Pocahontas. Pocahontas county is named after the Native American princess from Jamestown, Virginia.
Pocahontas is named for Pocahontas, the famous Native American who played a leading role in the history of the first permanent English settlements in North America.
County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts
Pocahontas County gets its name from
the Virginia Indian Princess. She saved the life of Captain John Smith and
married John Rolfe, both early settlers in America.
The county was established in 1851. Soon after the county's formal organization
in March 1859 there was a petition for the location of a county seat. Three
commissioners were appointed, but only two of them visited the newly-formed
county. Those two commissioners selected 200 acres near the West Fork of the Des
Moines River. The original name of the town was Highland, or Highland City. Over
the years it underwent several name changes; from Highland to Milton to (Old)
Rolfe and finally to Parvin.
The first courthouse was built in Rolfe, as it was then called. Swamp land funds
paid for a two-story, 36-foot x 50-foot Classic Revival courthouse. It was
constructed of bricks that were fired on the site and timber from nearby woods.
Lumber was sawed at the sawmill in Rolfe. The second floor of the courthouse was
used as a school; at this time the entire county was organized into one school
district.
The first school in Pocahontas County was held in the Hiatt log cabin home.
Later a brick schoolhouse was built west of the wooden courthouse. The brick for
this structure was formed and fired on the site.
In 1882 two railroads came to the county. Unfortunately they did not come to
Rolfe (now called Parvin.) With the decline of Parvin, there was a call to
relocate the county seat. In 1875 the citizens of Pocahontas County voted 356 to
57 in favor of moving the county seat to Pocahontas Center, later called
Pocahontas. The first wooden courthouse with attached brick wings was completed
in 1876 at a cost of $2,600. The records were soon moved from Parvin, and the
old courthouse was sold for $200.
On April 6, 1920 an election was held that authorized the construction of a new
courthouse. In the fall of that same year, a contract was let to architects
Proudfoot, Bird and Rawson, and to the contractor A. H. Neumann and Co. The
building was officially dedicated on September 3, 1923, Labor Day. The total
cost of the 121-foot x 86-foot Neo-Classical stone structure was $421,062.
The appearance of this courthouse - the third in the county - has been proudly
maintained and has kept pace with the needs of the citizens through progressive
times.
As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 579 square miles (1,500 km2), of which 577 square miles (1,490 km2) is land and 1.4 square miles (3.6 km2) (0.2%) is water.
Pocahontas county is located in northwest Iowa.
Bordering counties are as follows: