Floyd County planning 170th anniversary celebration Dec. 18

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

An open house celebrating the 170th anniversary of Floyd County will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the courthouse on Wednesday, Dec. 18.

Included will be a Chamber Ambassador presentation at 11:20 a.m., reminiscing with past and present county employees and officials, displays of historic documents and tours of the renovated courthouse.

Floyd County was officially established as a county on Jan. 15, 1851, through an act of the Iowa General Assembly. Its creation was part of the broader organization of counties in Iowa as the state’s population grew in the mid-19th century.

Although it was created in 1851, Floyd County remained largely unorganized for several years due to a sparse population. Official organization occurred later in 1854, when the county’s government was formally established.

The original county seat was in St. Charles (now Charles City), which remains the county seat to this day.

The county was named after Sergeant Charles Floyd, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition who died in 1804 and was the first U.S. soldier to die west of the Mississippi River, according to “The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States,” by Henry Gannett, published in 1905 by the Government Printing Office in Washington, DC.

Prior to European settlement, the region that became Floyd County was home to various Native American tribes, including the Sioux and Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) peoples. The first Euro-American settlers arrived in the late 1840s and early 1850s. The earliest documented settler in the county was Joseph Kelley, who arrived in 1848, according to “History of Floyd County, Iowa,” published in 1882 by Inter-State Publishing Co.

Settlement increased as the rich soil attracted farmers. Timber and water from the Cedar River also provided valuable resources. Agriculture quickly became the backbone of Floyd County’s economy, with wheat and corn among the first crops cultivated. Livestock farming developed alongside crop production.

The arrival of railroads in the mid-to-late 19th century further spurred economic growth and brought more settlers.

Early settlers endured significant challenges, including harsh winters and flooding. The 1858 flood of the Cedar River was particularly destructive.

Charles City became a hub for agricultural machinery in the early 20th century, home to the Hart-Parr Co., which coined the term “tractor.”

Floyd County’s development mirrored the broader expansion and settlement patterns of Iowa, with a focus on agriculture, transportation and small-town community life. Its early years were marked by resilience and steady growth, laying the foundation for the thriving rural county it remains today, said the history book published more than 140 years ago.