Audubon County IA

Audubon County, Iowa, was established in 1851 and organized in 1871, formed from land originally part of Pottawattamie County. Named after naturalist John James Audubon, it is located in western Iowa and characterized by gently rolling prairie intersected by the East Nishnabotna River and several creeks that supported early agriculture. Settlement began in the 1860s, with a large influx of German and Danish immigrants, especially near Kimballton, an area notable for its Danish heritage. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad played a central role in county development beginning in the 1870s. Audubon, the county seat since 1879, was platted with the arrival of the railroad. Federal census records begin in 1860, and land and probate records are available from the early 1870s. The region was historically part of the land occupied by the Otoe, Missouri, and Ioway tribes before their displacement through 19th-century treaties.