Plymouth County, Iowa

Founding: 1858 (declared in 1851)
Parent county: Unorganized territory
Namesake: Plymouth, Massachusetts
Seat: Melbourne (1859–1872); LeMars (1872–)
Land area: 863 square miles
Population (2020): 25,698
Population (historic): 148 (1860); 8,566 (1880); 22,209 (1900); 24,159 (1930)
Periods of population growth: 1860–1930; 1950–1980; 1990–2020
Subdivisions: 11 cities; 24 townships
National Register listings: 13
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 3,200 (29.5%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 55.3%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 2.5%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 2.9%

Average farmhouse value (1930): $2,256
Average outbuilding value (1930): $3,210

Average farmhouse size (1940): 6.7 rooms
Number of farms (1920): 2,699
Average farm size (1920): 174.6 acres
Sources of settlement: Iowa, Germany, Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, and England
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LeMars

 
Namesake: Uncertain—perhaps derived from an acronym
Founding: 1869 (platting); 1870 (post office); 1881 (incorporation)
Population (2020): 10,571
Population (historic): 4,036 (1890); 4,157 (1910); 4,788 (1930)
Periods of population growth: 1869–2020
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,125 (25.2%)
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