Appanoose County, Iowa

Appanoose County
Appanoose County
County
	Appanoose County Courthouse
	Location within the U.S. state of Iowa
	Iowa's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 40°44′17″N 92°52′02″W / 40.738055555556°N 92.867222222222°W
Country	United States
State	Iowa
Founded	1843
Named for	Chief Appanoose
Seat	Centerville
Largest city	Centerville
Area
• Total	516 sq mi (1,340 km2)
• Land	497 sq mi (1,290 km2)
• Water	19 sq mi (50 km2) 3.7%
Population (2020)
• Total	12,317
• Density	24/sq mi (9.2/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	3rd
Website	appanoosecounty.iowa.gov

Appanoose County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,317.^[1] Its county seat is Centerville.^[2]

History

Chief Appanoose, from A.R. Fulton's *Red Men of Iowa* 1882.

Appanoose County was formed on February 17, 1843, from open territory. It was named for the Meskwaki Chief Appanoose, who did not engage in war against Black Hawk, advocating peace. The present county seat was formerly called Chaldea, and was later renamed to Senterville in honor of Congressman William Tandy Senter of Tennessee. In April 1848, the courthouse, constructed at the expense of $160, was put into use and served as such until 1857. The second courthouse was opened in 1864, and was burned down to the first floor during an explosive Fourth of July fireworks demonstration. The third courthouse was dedicated on May 21, 1903, and remains in use.^[3]

In the summer of 1832 a company of cavalry set out from Davenport on a reconnaissance which extended as far west as Fort Leavenworth. They passed through what would become Appanoose County in a nearly southwest direction, passing near the present city of Moulton, camping overnight at a spring southwest of Cincinnati, and leaving the area and crossing into Missouri near the southwest corner of Pleasant Township. Early settlers in search of claims found two trails. The route taken by the cavalrymen and another with a general north–south direction, passing through Washington Township, and known as the bee trace and used in the summer by honey collectors. A post office in Washington Township was called Beetrace. The Beetrace post office was discontinued on March 1, 1886. This may have been originally an Indian trail. The first settlers say that it was a tolerably well-defined wagon road as far north as the Beetrace post office and that it could be followed easily into Taylor Township. Another "bee-trace" ran from Missouri diagonally through Davis County and terminated near Unionville.^[4]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 516 square miles (1,340 km²), of which 497 square miles (1,290 km²) is land and 19 square miles (49 km²) (3.7%) is water.^[5] Rathbun Reservoir, created by damming the Chariton River, is its main physical feature.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Monroe County (north)
Wapello County (northeast)
Lucas County (northwest)
Davis County (east)
Schuyler County, Missouri (southeast)
Putnam County, Missouri (southwest)
Wayne County (west)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1850	3,131		—
1860	11,931		281.1%
1870	16,456		37.9%
1880	16,636		1.1%
1890	18,961		14.0%
1900	25,927		36.7%
1910	28,701		10.7%
1920	30,535		6.4%
1930	24,835		−18.7%
1940	24,245		−2.4%
1950	19,683		−18.8%
1960	16,015		−18.6%
1970	15,007		−6.3%
1980	15,511		3.4%
1990	13,743		−11.4%
2000	13,721		−0.2%
2010	12,884		−6.1%
2020	12,317		−4.4%
2023 (est.)	12,119	^[6]	−1.6%
U.S. Decennial Census^[7] 1790-1960^[8] 1900-1990^[9] 1990-2000^[10] 2010-2018^[11]

Population of Appanoose County from US census data

2020 census

2022 US Census population pyramid for Appanoose County from ACS 5-year estimates

The 2020 census recorded a population of 12,317 in the county, with a population density of 23.8066/sq mi (9.1918/km²). 96.66% of the population reported being of one race. 93.03% were non-Hispanic White, 0.61% were Black, 1.88% were Hispanic, 0.19% were Native American, 0.57% were Asian, 0.06% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander and 3.66% were some other race or more than one race. There were 6,306 housing units of which 5,320 were occupied.^[1]

2010 census

The 2010 census recorded a population of 12,884 in the county, with a population density of 25.976/sq mi (10.029/km²). There were 6,633 housing units, of which 5,627 were occupied.^[12]

2000 census

At the 2000 census there were 13,721 people, 5,779 households, and 3,802 families in the county. The population density was 28 people per square mile (11 people/km²). There were 6,697 housing units at an average density of 14 units per square mile (5.4 units/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.16% White, 0.42% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.27% from other races, and 0.71% from two or more races. 0.98%.^[13] were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 5,779 households 28.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.10% were married couples living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.20% were non-families. 29.90% of households were one person and 15.40% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.89.

23.70% of the people are under the age of 18, 7.80% from 18 to 24, 25.10% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 20.00% 65 or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 91.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.50 males.

The median household income was $28,612 and the median family income was $35,980. Males had a median income of $27,449 versus $20,452 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,644. About 10.10% of families and 14.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.00% of those under age 18 and 14.10% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Townships

Appanoose County is divided into seventeen townships:

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Appanoose County.^[1]

† county seat

Rank	City/Town/etc.	Municipal type	Population (2020 Census)
1	† Centerville	City	5,412
2	Moravia (partially in Monroe County)	City	636 (637 total)
3	Moulton	City	607
4	Mystic	City	322
5	Cincinnati	City	290
6	Exline	City	160
7	Unionville	City	75
8	Numa	City	68
10	Plano	City	59
9	Rathbun	City	43
11	Udell	City	28

Politics

United States presidential election results for Appanoose County, Iowa^[14]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	4,704	72.55%	1,686	26.00%	94	1.45%
2020	4,512	69.24%	1,891	29.02%	113	1.73%
2016	4,033	65.73%	1,814	29.56%	289	4.71%
2012	3,161	50.62%	2,951	47.25%	133	2.13%
2008	3,086	49.94%	2,970	48.07%	123	1.99%
2004	3,340	51.78%	3,063	47.49%	47	0.73%
2000	2,992	52.45%	2,560	44.88%	152	2.66%
1996	2,233	39.93%	2,747	49.12%	612	10.94%
1992	2,346	36.81%	2,810	44.09%	1,217	19.10%
1988	2,779	45.65%	3,209	52.71%	100	1.64%
1984	3,412	50.48%	3,289	48.66%	58	0.86%
1980	3,544	52.68%	2,769	41.16%	415	6.17%
1976	3,036	46.29%	3,424	52.21%	98	1.49%
1972	4,321	64.04%	2,283	33.84%	143	2.12%
1968	3,497	49.58%	3,005	42.61%	551	7.81%
1964	2,872	36.56%	4,960	63.14%	24	0.31%
1960	5,040	59.43%	3,422	40.35%	18	0.21%
1956	4,980	55.00%	4,064	44.89%	10	0.11%
1952	5,429	55.38%	4,276	43.61%	99	1.01%
1948	4,078	43.87%	4,998	53.77%	220	2.37%
1944	4,928	49.18%	5,015	50.05%	77	0.77%
1940	6,032	49.43%	6,069	49.74%	101	0.83%
1936	5,511	45.16%	6,599	54.08%	93	0.76%
1932	4,229	42.22%	5,519	55.10%	269	2.69%
1928	6,864	66.72%	3,340	32.47%	83	0.81%
1924	6,421	57.14%	2,032	18.08%	2,785	24.78%
1920	6,382	65.50%	2,952	30.30%	409	4.20%
1916	3,327	52.43%	2,510	39.55%	509	8.02%
1912	2,356	40.57%	2,058	35.44%	1,393	23.99%
1908	3,161	55.00%	2,167	37.71%	419	7.29%
1904	3,607	59.86%	1,743	28.92%	676	11.22%
1900	3,538	55.52%	2,690	42.21%	145	2.28%
1896	3,046	50.54%	2,940	48.78%	41	0.68%