Shelby County, Iowa

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Shelby County, Iowa
Map
Location in the state of Iowa
Iowa's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	information needed
Seat	Harlan
Area - Total - Land - Water	591 sq mi (1,531 km²) 591 sq mi (1,531 km²) 1 sq mi (3 km²), 0.09%
Population - (2000) - Density	13,173 23/sq mi (9/km²)
Website: www.shco.org

Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of 2000, the population is 13,173. Its name is in honor of Isaac Shelby, the first Governor of Kentucky. Its county seat is Harlan.^[1]

1 Geography
- 1.1 Major highways
- 1.2 Adjacent counties
2 History
3 Demographics
4 Cities and towns
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 591 square miles (1,532 km²), of which, 591 square miles (1,530 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (1 km²) of it (0.09%) is water.

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Adjacent counties

Crawford County (north)
Audubon County (east)
Cass County (southeast)
Pottawattamie County (south)
Harrison County (west)

[edit] History

Shelby County was formed on January 15, 1851. It was named after General Isaac Shelby, a hero in the American Revolutionary War and the first Governor of Kentucky.

On February 4, 1855, Shelbyville was designated the county seat. in April, 1859, the seat was moved to Harlan. One year later the first courthouse was erected. In 1898, the construction of a second courthouse was began, this time of stone and three storeys high. The construction was completed in 1892. In 1978, the building was extensively restored and still serves as the courthouse.^[2]

[edit] Demographics

2000 Census Age Pyramid for Shelby County.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1900	17,932	—
1910	16,552	-7.7%
1920	16,065	-2.9%
1930	17,131	6.6%
1940	16,720	-2.4%
1950	15,942	-4.7%
1960	15,825	-0.7%
1970	15,528	-1.9%
1980	15,043	-3.1%
1990	13,230	-12.1%
2000	13,173	-0.4%
IA Counties 1900-1990

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 13,173 people, 5,173 households, and 3,703 families residing in the county. The population density was 22 people per square mile (9/km²). There were 5,459 housing units at an average density of 9 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.68% White, 0.10% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.18% from other races, and 0.48% from two or more races. 0.67% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 5,173 households out of which 32.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.30% were married couples living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.40% were non-families. 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.40% under the age of 18, 5.70% from 18 to 24, 25.20% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 20.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,442, and the median income for a family was $44,681. Males had a median income of $29,402 versus $20,296 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,969. About 4.30% of families and 6.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.00% of those under age 18 and 7.60% of those age 65 or over.