Editing Butler County, Iowa (section)

==History==
Butler County was formed on January 15, 1851, from open land. It was named after [[Kentucky]] native [[William Orlando Butler]], a general and hero of the Mexican–American War, who ran as Vice President of the United States in 1848. Until 1854, the county was governed by other counties. Only at this time did it have enough inhabitants to establish its own local government. The first court proceedings were conducted in a small log cabin of a settler. In 1858, the first courthouse was completed in Clarksville. After it was sold shortly thereafter to the local school district, it was used as a schoolhouse from 1863 until 1903.

[[Clarksville, Iowa|Clarksville]] was the first county seat, from 1854 to 1860, after which [[Butler Center, Iowa|Butler Center]] became the seat. Because locals became disenchanted with Butler Center (partially because of its inaccessibility during the winter), [[Allison, Iowa|Allison]] was made the county seat on January 10, 1881, after the tracks of the [[Dubuque and Dakota Railroad]] had been laid there.

Butler County is the only county in Iowa that does not have any four-lane roads (US Highway or interstate), a hospital, or a movie theatre. There are also no national fast-food chains in Butler county. As well as one of the only counties in Iowa without a stoplight.