Polk County, Iowa

Polk County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, 492,401 people lived there. It the most populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Des Moines,. Des Moines is also the capital city of Iowa. Polk County is one of the five counties that make up the Des Moines-West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History
Polk County was formed on January 13, 1846. It was named after President James K. Polk. The first courthouse was built in 1846. Construction of a second courthouse was begun in 1858.  It was finished in 1866.

Geography

The county has a total area of . Of this,  (or 96.19%) is land and  (or 3.81%) is water.  The county is bisected by the Des Moines River

Adjacent counties
Boone County  (northwest)
Story County  (north)
Jasper County  (east)
Marion County  (southeast)
Warren County  (south)
Madison County  (southwest)
Dallas County  (west)

Communities
Cities
Alleman
Altoona
Ankeny
Bondurant
Carlisle
Clive
Des Moines
Elkhart
Granger
Grimes
Johnston
Mitchellville
Norwalk
Pleasant Hill
Polk City
Runnells
Sheldahl
Urbandale
West Des Moines
Windsor Heights

Unincorporated communities
Avon
BerwickEnterprise
FarrarSaylorville(CDP)

References

Other websites

Polk County government's website
[Historic Polk County Church: Ankeny Christian Church, Dave Clark pastor]

Category:Iowa counties
Category:1846 establishments in Iowa Territory