Linn County, Iowa

Linn County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 211,226 in the 2010 census, an increase from 191,701 in the 2000 census. The county seat is Cedar Rapids. Linn county is named in honor of Senator Lewis Linn of Missouri and it is one of the three counties that make up the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History
Linn County was organized by the first legislative assembly of the Iowa Territory on January 15, 1839. A site was selected for its first county seat along Indian Creek, and was named Marion, after the Revolutionary War general Francis Marion. As early as 1855, there were debates over moving the county seat to the fast-growing Cedar Rapids, southwest of Marion, but it was not until November 6, 1919, that there were enough votes in favor of the move (9,960 to 4,823).

Geography
According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 724.55 square miles (1,876.6 km), of which 717.44 square miles (1,858.2 km or 99.02%) is land and 7.10 square miles (18.4 km or 0.98%) is water.

Demographics
The 2010 census recorded a population of 211,226 in the county, with a population density of 294 people per sq mile (113/km). There were 92,251 housing units, of which 86,134 were occupied.

Government
On July 24, 2007, the voters of

Linn County approved a measure to change the form of government from a 3-member Board of Supervisors elected at large to a 5-member Board of Supervisors elected by district. The supervisors serve overlapping 4-year terms.