Winneshiek County, Iowa

Founding: 1851 (declared in 1847)
Parent county: Unorganized territory

Namesake: Winneshiek, Winnebago chief
Seat: Decorah (1851–)

Land area: 690 square miles

Population (2020): 20,070

Population (historic): 546 (1850); 23,570 (1870); 22,528 (1890); 21,729 (1910); 21,630 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1850–1880; 1890s; 1910s; 1930s; 1950–1980; 1990s

Subdivisions: Eight cities; one CDP; 20 townships

Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 3,298 (36.7%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 63%
Pre-1860 housing survival rate (1940): 3.6%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 7.5%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 4.8%

Average farmhouse value (1930): $2,460
Average outbuilding value (1930): $3,063
Average farmhouse size (1940): 7 rooms
Number of farms (1920): 2,915
Average farm size (1920): 112.9 acres
Sources of settlement: Norway, New York, Germany, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Wisconsin, and Ireland
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Decorah

Namesake: Waukon Decorah, Winnebago leader

Founding: 1851 (platting); 1851 (post office); 1857 (incorporation)

Population (2020): 7,587

Population (historic): 1,920 (1860); 2,951 (1880); 3,246 (1900); 4,581 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1851–1880; 1890–1980; 1990s
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 978 (34.1%)
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Outstanding Buildings

1. Henry Horn House (1869). 2136 Horn Hollow Road. Canoe. Italianate.
2. Milton Merrill House (c. 1865). 1308 College Drive. Decorah. Gothic Revival.
3. John Pedersen House (1894). 918 Pleasant Avenue. Decorah. Queen Anne.
4. Benjamin Jewell House (c. 1890). 2219 Pole Line Road. Decorah. Eastlake.
5. Albert Baker House (1897). 1000 Prospect Place. Decorah. Queen Anne/Eastlake.
6. Bridget Dwyer House (1873). 203 Quarry Street. Decorah. Italianate.
7. Carl Siewers Farm (c. 1880). 2316 Siewers Spring Road. Decorah. Italianate.
8. Norwegian Lutheran Home (c. 1915). 2248 South Bear Road. Decorah.
9. Moses Hostetler Farm (c. 1885). 1421 200th Road. Frankville. Italianate.
10. Erick Bakke Farm (1864). 1524 State Route 9. Frankville. Italianate.
11. Thorvald Kirkeby House (c. 1890). 1584 Old Stage Road. Glenwood. Second Empire/Stick.
12. Knut Traaen House (c. 1885). 3877 128th Road. Highland. Italianate.
13. Stavanger Lutheran Church (1869–1870). 1936 115th Road. Military. Gothic Revival.
14. Knud Buli Farm (1882). 1627 Road W42. Springfield. Gothic Revival.
15. Washington Prairie Lutheran Church (1872). 1725 Washington Prairie Road. Springfield. Gothic Revival.
16. Rosa Walenta House (c. 1890). 3239 200th Road. Sumner. Italianate.
17. St. Anthony of Padua Chapel (1885). 1120 Little Church Road. Washington.

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