About

Comprised of nine communities in northwest Iowa, Sac County is proud of its rich agricultural history, scenic rolling green hills, many recreational opportunities (including Iowa's southernmost glacier lake), and, of course, being home to the World's Largest Popcorn Ball.

Our Communities Life in the County

Sac County History

Sauk & Fox Tribe

Before Sac County's founding, the area was home to the Fox and Sauk Native Americans. The county is named for the Sauk people.

Founding

The first Euro-American settlers arrived in Sac County in the late 1840s and early 1850s, with the earliest visitors likely hunters and trappers. News of the area's abundance of resources and fertile land attracted homesteaders. Sac County's boundaries were established in 1851, but it was attached to Wahkaw (present-day Woodbury County), then to Polk County in 1853, and to Greene County in 1855. After a census later that year showed 251 people resided in the county, it was able to be officially established as its own county in 1856. Sac City was named the county seat shortly after.

County Courthouses

The original county courthouse was put out for bid in 1860, advertised as a 34 ft wide by 46 fot long building. The contract to build it was $10,000. However, by the end of the decade, a larger courthouse was already needed. A new courthouse (84 by 56 feet) was built in 1874, complete with a basement to "confine prisoners" and enough space to rent out to the public for dances and large gatherings when not in use by the county. It was used until an arson fire in 1888.

The insurance settlement from the burned courthouse ($15,000) was used toward the new estimated $30,000 building that would include plumbing and heating. Designed by architect J.M. Russell, the two-story brick courthouse was completed in January 1890 and is still in use by the county. In 1977, the present-day courtroom addition was made.

Source: "The History and Government of Sac County"  and "Iowa's Magnificent County Courthouses"