Primghar

Primghar, Iowa
—  City  —
Location of Primghar, Iowa
Coordinates: 43°5′16″N 95°37′40″W / 43.08778°N 95.62778°W / 43.08778; -95.62778Coordinates: 43°5′16″N 95°37′40″W / 43.08778°N 95.62778°W / 43.08778; -95.62778
Country	United States
State	Iowa
County	O'Brien
Government
• Mayor	James A. Thompson
Area
• Total	1.38 sq mi (3.58 km2)
• Land	1.38 sq mi (3.58 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation	1,526 ft (465 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	909
• Density	657.3/sq mi (253.8/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	51245
Area code(s)	712
FIPS code	19-64650
GNIS feature ID	0460449

Primghar is a city in and the county seat of O'Brien County, Iowa, United States, United States.^[1] The population was 909 at the 2010 census.

History

In a brief history of O'Brien County, Arthur M. Schierholz states: "the courthouse location in (the village of) O'Brien in the extreme southeast corner of the county became a growing issue. To resolve the matter, an election was held on November 11, 1872, to determine the location of the courthouse." A total of 360 votes were cast, with 307 voting to move the courthouse to the exact geographical center of the county. Another historian wrote, "Probably the only case in Iowa, perhaps anywhere, where a bare spot of raw prairie was actually voted to be the county seat." This eventually became the town of Primghar. The present O'Brien County Courthouse was completed in 1917.^[2] The name Primghar was received from the first letter of eight people who had a major part in platting the town.^[3]

Geography

Primghar is located at 43°5′16″N 95°37′40″W / 43.08778°N 95.62778°W / 43.08778; -95.62778 (43.087722, -95.627892)^[4].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.38 square miles (3.58 km²), all of it land.

Topography

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Elevation is 1520 feet. This area of northwest Iowa is gently rolling. Today fields are marred by few boggy areas and much of the land is terraced to reduce erosion. Until fill was hauled in, the south side of the courthouse square was a "boggy, muddy slough." When the first settlers arrived there were few trees and almost without exception prairie grass grew to six foot.

In the immediate vicinity of Primghar the topsoils and subsoils are silty clay loam. (Galva, Marcus, Primghar, and Sac soils by name.) Clay loam glacial till is at a depth of 30 to 60 inches in most places. There are no mineral assets of commercial value save rock and gravel. Back in 1873 this dearth of underground wealth was yet to be decided. There was a $1000 reward posted for anyone finding mineable coal reserves. No one claimed the prize.

There is an abandoned rock quarry a mile SSE of Primghar which was donated by the Tjossem family to Primghar in 1989 and is now known as Tjossem Park, a fishing area and public picnic/camp ground.

Demographics

As of the census^[6] of 2010, there were 909 people, 392 households, and 247 families residing in the town. The population density was 657.3 people per square mile (253.8/km²). There were 444 housing units at an average density of 321 per square mile (124/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.5% White, 0.3% African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.9% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.2% of the population.

There were 392 households out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.0% were non-families. 33.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.77.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 22.4% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 23.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.9 years. The gender makeup of the city was 47.7% male and 52.3% female.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,304, and the median income for a family was $40,982. Males had a median income of $30,134 versus $20,694 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,791. About 5.2% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Primghar is served by the South O'Brien Community School District. Primghar houses the South O'Brien Elementary School. ^[7]

Notable people

• Keli McGregor (1963–2010), president of the Colorado Rockies baseball team from 2001 until his death.
• Joseph Welch (1890–1960), the head counsel for the United States Army, most famous for asking Senator Joseph McCarthy, "Have you no decency, sir?" during the height of McCarthyism.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Primghar, Iowa

Iowa portal

• Primghar Iowa Portal style website, Government, Business, Recreation and more
• Whats happining in Primghar
• City-Data Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Primghar

v t e Municipalities and communities of O'Brien County, Iowa, United States County seat: Primghar Cities Archer Calumet Hartley Paullina Primghar Sanborn Sheldon‡ Sutherland Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties