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Iowa County
Chickasaw County, Iowa
New Hampton and Little Cedar River valley - from New Hampton's role as a regional hub for north Iowa's Chickasaw County to the county's productive agricultural landscape (Chickasaw County's gently rolling terrain along the Little Cedar and Wapsipinicon River headwaters supports strong corn, soybean, and hog production, with the county consistently ranking among north Iowa's more productive agricultural counties).
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Office: Chickasaw County Emergency Management / NG911 – 516 S. Linn Avenue, PO Box 214, New Hampton, IA 50659 | (641) 394-2406 | 24-hr Communications Center (641) 394-4171. Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-4 PM.
Sheriff: Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Office – PO Box 427, New Hampton, IA 50659 | (641) 394-3121 | Fax (641) 394-4173; Sheriff Ryan (a New Hampton native, appointed January 23, 2023). Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30 AM-4:30 PM; jail visitation Wednesdays 1-3 PM.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-63 and IA-24 serve New Hampton, the county seat, in northeastern Iowa.
Notes: Chickasaw County was created January 15, 1851, named for the Chickasaw people; the county’s first white settlers arrived in 1848. The original county seat, established 1854, was Bradford in the southwest corner of the county; it moved to the more centrally located New Hampton (then called “Chickasaw Center”) in 1857. Bradford itself later disappeared as its flour mill relocated to New Hampton and the railroad moved to Nashua.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Chickasaw County Courthouse – 8 E. Prospect Street, New Hampton, IA (built 1929, following an 1880 fire that destroyed the prior courthouse).
Notes: Chickasaw County holds a genuinely delightful piece of American musical history. In 1857, young music teacher William S. Pitts, passing through the then-thriving town of Bradford by stagecoach, was struck by an empty, tree-shaded lot and imagined what a charming little country church might look like there; he wrote a poem, “Church in the Wildwood,” set it to music, and put it away. Five years later, having moved to nearby Fredericksburg, Pitts returned to Bradford to find that a small brown-painted Congregational church had in fact been built on that very spot – the congregation, unaware of his song, had simply used the cheapest available paint, brown Ohio Mineral Paint. Pitts taught the rediscovered song to his singing class, who performed it at the church’s 1864 dedication. Retitled “The Little Brown Church in the Vale,” it became one of the most beloved hymns in American history, popularized worldwide by evangelist Charles M. Alexander’s 1893 campaign and recorded by artists from the Carter Family to Andy Griffith. The church still stands today, two miles east of Nashua, and remains an active wedding site – over 74,000 weddings performed there since formal record-keeping began in 1918, drawing tens of thousands of visitors annually.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Chickasaw County Veterans Affairs – via the Heritage Center, 2275 S. Linn Avenue, New Hampton, IA 50659 | (641) 394-3232.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
New Hampton Public Library and Carnegie Cultural Center (7 N. Water Avenue, New Hampton, IA 50659, (641) 394-2354) – confirm current library hours/services.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Little Brown Church in the Vale (near Nashua), the Chickasaw County Historical Society Museum & Bradford Pioneer Museum (Nashua), and the Carnegie Cultural Center are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, wonderfully true story behind “The Little Brown Church in the Vale” – a song written for a church that didn’t yet exist – is among the most charming pieces of American musical folklore covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Chickasaw County Assessor’s Office – Courthouse, 8 E. Prospect Street, New Hampton, IA 50659 | (641) 394-2813.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Spay Neuter All Pets (SNAP) of Chickasaw County – New Hampton, IA; works in collaboration with city and county law enforcement, focused on crisis intervention, spay/neuter education, and abuse/neglect cases. C W Rustic Hollow Shelter, Inc – PO Box 67, Nashua, IA 50658 | (641) 435-4151.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Chickasaw County Rural Recycling / Environmental Health – confirm current contact via chickasawcounty.iowa.gov.
NOTES: Chickasaw County is the nineteenth county in Iowa’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, wonderfully true story behind “The Little Brown Church in the Vale” is among the most charming pieces of American musical folklore covered in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Chickasaw County
Chickasaw County is north Iowa’s Little Cedar River agricultural county – New Hampton serves as the regional hub for a predominantly rural county whose economy is anchored by corn and soybean production, hog confinements, and the small communities that support the county’s farm families.
New Hampton (the county seat, population ~3,400) is Chickasaw County’s governmental and commercial center, providing regional services to surrounding communities in north-central Iowa near the Minnesota border.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Chickasaw County Assessor at 8 E. Prospect Street, New Hampton, IA 50659, phone 641-394-2191. IA assessed at 100% market value with residential rollback.
Courts & Legal
Chickasaw County District Court at 8 E. Prospect Street, New Hampton, IA 50659, phone 641-394-2106, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
8 E. Prospect St., New Hampton, IA 50659
(641) 394-2688
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Chickasaw County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Chickasaw County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Chickasaw County District Court, 1st Judicial District 8 East Prospect Street, New Hampton, IA 50659 (641) 394-2106 Chickasaw County is a small, rural county in northeastern Iowa.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Iowa has its own comprehensive probate code (Iowa Code Chapter 633) and has not formally adopted the Uniform Probate Code. Iowa offers several tracks depending on estate size and complexity:
Distribution by Affidavit (“very small estates”) – for estates where the gross value of personal property is $50,000 or less and there is no real estate, available 40 days after death under Iowa Code § 633.356. A sworn affidavit is presented directly to banks and other institutions. No court filing is required.
Small Estate Administration – a simplified probate process under Iowa Code Chapter 635 for estates with a gross value of $200,000 or less, with reduced notice requirements and court costs compared to full administration.
Regular (Full) Probate – standard administration through the district court for larger or more complex estates, which can be independent (unsupervised) or supervised.
Supervised Administration – closer court oversight, typically used for contested estates.
Step 2: filing for formal probate
File a Petition for Probate of Will and Appointment of Executor (if there’s a will) or a Petition for Administration (if intestate) with the Chickasaw County District Court.
The court admits the will (if any) and issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (intestate) appointing the personal representative.
Publish notice to creditors; under independent administration, creditors generally have 4 months from the date of first publication to file claims.
The personal representative inventories assets, pays valid debts and expenses, and – under independent administration – largely acts without ongoing court check-ins.
After the creditor period closes and debts are paid, the personal representative distributes assets to heirs or beneficiaries.
File a final accounting/final report; the court closes the estate upon approval.
What it costs
Personal representative fees are capped by statute at 3% of the gross value of the probate estate (excluding life insurance) unless services are itemized; attorney fees follow a similar framework.
Recording fees at the county recorder run about $7 for the first page of a document and $5 for each additional page.
Typical timelines: Distribution by Affidavit – a minimum 40-day wait; independent (unsupervised) probate typically closes in 6-12 months, with the 4-month creditor period as the primary timing constraint.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
8 E. Prospect St., New Hampton, IA 50659
(641) 394-3121
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY AUDITOR (Records, Elections, Finance)
8 E. Prospect St., New Hampton, IA 50659
(641) 394-2106
ELECTIONS (County Auditor)
8 E. Prospect St., New Hampton, IA 50659
(641) 394-2106
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Chickasaw County Public Health and Home Care Service – 260 E. Prospect Street, PO Box 355, New Hampton, IA 50659 | (641) 394-4053.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: New Hampton
Population: 12,000
Area: 505 sq mi
Established: 1851
Tier: 3
Public Records
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Search public records for Chickasaw County residents.
