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County · code 19089

Howard CountyIowa

Howard County is in Iowa and was created on January 15, 1851, from Delaware County, with its county seat in Cresco. The county was named after Tilghman Howard.

  • Founded1851
  • County seatCresco
  • Named forTilghman Howard
  • Land area473 sq mi + 0.4 sq mi water
  • Population9,469 2020 Census
  • Parcels mapped13,569 checked 15 October 2026
Open the free map Click any parcel in Howard County: acreage, parcel id, address and who publishes the map. No sign-in.

Updated

ChickasawMitchell Cresco Census outline · seat marked

Where it is

Howard 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 CountyDecatur CountyDelaware CountyDes Moines CountyDickinson CountyDubuque CountyEmmet CountyFayette CountyFloyd CountyFranklin CountyFremont CountyGreene CountyGrundy CountyGuthrie CountyHamilton CountyHancock CountyHardin CountyHarrison CountyHenry 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 CountyHoward County Howard
Counties of Iowa · Howard highlighted

History

Formed in 1851 from Delaware County

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

Howard County was created from Non-County Area 6 and attached to Delaware County, but remained unorganized. In 1853, Howard County was attached to Chickasaw County for administrative and judicial purposes. Howard County was detached from Floyd County in September 1855 and became fully organized as a county. In 1857, Howard County's organization was confirmed and legalized by the state.

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

  1. 1851
    Howard County created Howard created from Non-County Area 6 attached to Delaware; Howard not fully organized, not attached.
    from Delaware
    · Iowa Acts 1850-1851, ch. 9, sec. 42/pp. 36-37
  2. 1853
    Changed Howard attached to Chickasaw for administrative and judicial purposes (Howard indirectly attached to Fayette, through Chickasaw, until 12 September 1853).
    ChickasawFayette
    · Iowa Acts 1852-1853, ch. 12, sec. 1/p. 28
  3. 1855
    Gained territory Howard gained from Chickasaw; Howard remained attached to Chickasaw.
    from Chickasaw
    · Iowa Acts 1854-1855, ch. 120, secs. 1-2/pp. 185-186
  4. 1855
    Changed Howard detached from Chickasaw, attached to Floyd "for judicial purposes".
    ChickasawFloyd
    · Clyde and Dwelle, 1:17; History of Mitchell and Worth, 145, 148; Iowa Acts 1854-1855, ch. 111, secs. 5-6/pp. 174-175; Swisher, "Organization of Counties," 545-546
  5. 1855
    Changed Howard fully, organized, detached from Floyd.
    Floyd
    · Swisher, "Organization of Counties," 575
  6. 1857
    Changed Howard's organization as a county confirmed and legalized. · Iowa Acts 1856-1857, ch. 180, sec. 1/p. 271

Land and parcels

What the maps cover in Howard

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

Howard by the Census

Population
9,469 2020 Census count
Housing units
4,314 2020 Census count
Land area
473 square miles
Water area
0.4 square miles
People per sq mi
20 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

Howard 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 Howard County

When was Howard County founded?
Howard County was founded in 1851, formed from Delaware County, and named after Tilghman Howard.
What is the county seat of Howard County?
The county seat of Howard County is Cresco.
Is there an online parcel map for Howard County?
Yes. Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (statewide parcels, mirrored by the University of Iowa) publishes a parcel map of 13,569 parcels, rated fallback here. You can click any parcel on it in Parcel Chart's free map, no sign-in needed.
Has Howard County's boundary or name changed?
Howard County was created in 1851 from Delaware County. Since then the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries records 5 later changes, chiefly involving Chickasaw County, Floyd County and Fayette County.
Is my lot in a flood zone?
We do not have flood maps for Howard 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