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County · code 19053

Decatur CountyIowa

Decatur County is a county in Iowa, with its seat in Leon. The county was formed on January 13, 1846.

  • Founded1846
  • County seatLeon
  • Named forStephen Decatur
  • Land area532 sq mi + 1.6 sq mi water
  • Population7,645 2020 Census
  • Parcels mapped16,095 checked 16 October 2026
Open the free map Click any parcel in Decatur County: acreage, parcel id, address and who publishes the map. No sign-in.

Updated

ClarkeMercer, MOHarrison, MO Leon Census outline · seat marked

Where it is

Decatur on the map of Iowa

Iowa has 99 counties and county equivalents, each with its own records office. Shapes with a page are links.

Adair CountyAdams CountyAllamakee CountyAppanoose CountyAudubon CountyBenton CountyBlack Hawk CountyBoone CountyBremer CountyBuchanan CountyBuena Vista CountyButler CountyCalhoun CountyCarroll CountyCass CountyCedar CountyCerro Gordo CountyCherokee CountyChickasaw CountyClarke CountyClay CountyClayton CountyClinton CountyCrawford CountyDallas CountyDavis CountyDelaware CountyDes Moines CountyDickinson CountyDubuque CountyEmmet CountyFayette CountyFloyd CountyFranklin CountyFremont CountyGreene CountyGrundy CountyGuthrie CountyHamilton CountyHancock CountyHardin CountyHarrison CountyHenry CountyHoward CountyHumboldt CountyIda CountyIowa CountyJackson CountyJasper CountyJefferson CountyJohnson CountyJones CountyKeokuk CountyKossuth CountyLee CountyLinn CountyLouisa CountyLucas CountyLyon CountyMadison CountyMahaska CountyMarion CountyMarshall CountyMills CountyMitchell CountyMonona CountyMonroe CountyMontgomery CountyMuscatine CountyO'Brien CountyOsceola CountyPage CountyPalo Alto CountyPlymouth CountyPocahontas CountyPolk CountyPottawattamie CountyPoweshiek CountyRinggold CountySac CountyScott CountyShelby CountySioux CountyStory CountyTama CountyTaylor CountyUnion CountyVan Buren CountyWapello CountyWarren CountyWashington CountyWayne CountyWebster CountyWinnebago CountyWinneshiek CountyWoodbury CountyWorth CountyWright CountyDecatur County Decatur
Counties of Iowa · Decatur highlighted

History

Formed in 1846 from Davis County

An old deed may name a county that no longer exists, or a boundary that has since moved.

Decatur County was created by Iowa Territory from Non-County Area 5 attached to Davis County, though it was not fully organized at the time. It was attached to Appanoose County for election, revenue, and judicial purposes until May 6, 1850, when it was fully organized and detached. The county is named after Stephen Decatur.

Boundary changes from the Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

  1. 1846
    Decatur County created Decatur created by Iowa Territory from Non-County Area 5 attached to Davis; Decatur not fully organized, not attached.
    from Davis
    · Iowa Terr. Laws 1845-1846, ch. 82, secs. 1, 12/pp. 73-75
  2. 1846
    Changed Decatur attached to Appanoose "for election, revenue, and judicial purposes".
    Appanoose
    · Iowa Terr. Laws 1845-1846, ch. 60, sec. 15/p. 57
  3. 1846
    Became part of Iowa Decatur became an Iowa county when the state of Iowa was created from Iowa Territory. · U.S. Stat., vol. 9, ch. 1[1847]/p. 117
  4. 1847
    Changed Missouri implicitly overlapped Decatur when it claimed, before the U.S. Supreme Court, a boundary with Iowa 10 miles north of the present boundary.
    U.s.
    · Landers, 647; Thomas, 268-269
  5. 1849
    Changed Missouri's implicit overlap of Decatur ended when U.S. Supreme Court set the Iowa-Missouri boundary at its present location (no change).
    U.s.
    · Landers, 647-648; Thomas, 269-270
  6. 1850
    Changed Decatur fully organized, detached from Appanoose.
    Appanoose
    · Swisher, "Organization of Counties," 574

Land and parcels

What the maps cover in Decatur

Who publishes each layer, how good it is, and when we last checked.

Official
from the office that keeps the record
Good enough
a reliable statewide or national copy
Fallback
a guide only; check the official record
Missing
nothing public found yet

People and land

Decatur by the Census

Population
7,645 2020 Census count
Housing units
3,653 2020 Census count
Land area
532 square miles
Water area
1.6 square miles
People per sq mi
14 population ÷ land area

Source: US Census Bureau, 2020 Census; US Census Bureau, 2020 Gazetteer Files. Not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Rules and offices

Decatur County's official site

We have found the county's site but not its offices yet; start there.

County government

See your own lot on these maps

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Questions

Common questions about Decatur County

When was Decatur County founded?
Decatur County was founded in 1846, formed from Davis County, and named after Stephen Decatur.
What is the county seat of Decatur County?
The county seat of Decatur County is Leon.
Is there an online parcel map for Decatur County?
Yes. Decatur County publishes a parcel map of 16,095 parcels, rated good enough here. You can click any parcel on it in Parcel Chart's free map, no sign-in needed.
Has Decatur County's boundary or name changed?
Decatur County was created in 1846 from Davis County. Since then the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries records 4 later changes, chiefly involving Appanoose County and U.s. County.
Is my lot in a flood zone?
We do not have flood maps for Decatur County yet. Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, which shows the effective flood map for any lot.

Nearby

Counties next door