Polk County, Iowa

Polk County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2010 census, 430,640 people lived there. It the most populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Des Moines,. Des Moines is also the capital city of Iowa. Polk County is one of the five counties that make up the Des Moines-West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History
Polk County was formed on January 13, 1846. It was named after President James K. Polk. The first courthouse was built in 1846. Construction of a second courthouse was begun in 1858. It was finished in 1866.

Geography
The county has a total area of 591.90 sqmi. Of this, 569.35 sqmi (or 96.19%) is land and 22.55 sqmi (or 3.81%) is water. The county is bisected by the Des Moines River

Adjacent counties

 * Boone County (northwest)
 * Story County (north)
 * Jasper County (east)
 * Marion County (southeast)
 * Warren County (south)
 * Madison County (southwest)
 * Dallas County (west)

Other websites

 * Polk County government's website
 * [Historic Polk County Church: Ankeny Christian Church, Dave Clark pastor]