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Iowa County
Clayton County, Iowa
Elkader's Keystone Bridge and Guttenberg's Mississippi bluffs - from Elkader's 1889 Keystone Bridge (the Keystone Arch Bridge over the Turkey River in Elkader - the longest single-span stone arch bridge in the United States west of the Mississippi, constructed by German immigrant stonemason Frederick Heer in 1889 - is one of Iowa's most remarkable historic engineering structures) to Guttenberg's extraordinary Mississippi River bluff setting (Guttenberg's downtown sits at the base of towering limestone bluffs above the Mississippi River - the view from the river-level street looking up at the bluffs and across to the Wisconsin shore is one of the most dramatic in Iowa) and Pikes Peak State Park.
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Office: Clayton County Emergency Management – County Office Building, 600 Gunder Road NE, Suite 13, Elkader, IA 52043 | (563) 245-3004 | Fax (563) 204-4194.
Sheriff: Clayton County Sheriff’s Office – 22680 230th Street, Saint Olaf, IA 52072 | (563) 245-2422 (option 2 admin, option 1 dispatch) | Tip line (563) 245-1234; Sheriff Brent Ostrander, elected November 2024, took office January 1, 2025, after 16 years as the office’s Criminal Investigator. Communications dispatched from Elkader.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: IA-13 and US-52 serve Elkader, the county seat, in northeastern Iowa. Elkader holds Iowa’s record for lowest recorded minimum temperature: -47°F, set February 3, 1996.
Notes: Clayton County was formed December 21, 1837, split from Dubuque County, named for John M. Clayton, a Delaware senator and later U.S. Secretary of State. The county seat moved several times between 1840 and 1876 – from Prairie La Porte to Jacksonville to Garnavillo to Elkader to Guttenberg – before Elkader ultimately prevailed.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Clayton County Courthouse – 111 High Street NE, Elkader, IA (built 1878, Italianate style; National Register of Historic Places since 1976).
Notes: Elkader holds a genuinely distinctive place in American town-naming history: founded in 1846 by settlers Timothy Davis, John Thompson, and Chester Sage, it is believed to be the only town in the United States named after an Arab Muslim figure. The founders chose to honor Emir Abdelkader (also spelled Abd el-Kader), a young Algerian leader then resisting French colonial conquest, whose reputation for military skill and, later, humanitarian conduct – including sheltering thousands of persecuted Christians and Jews during sectarian violence in Damascus in 1860 – earned him international admiration in his lifetime; The New York Times eulogized him upon his 1883 death as “one of the few great men of the century.” Elkader has maintained a sister-city relationship with Mascara, Algeria (Abdelkader’s birthplace) since the 1980s, formalized through the Elkader Sister City Friendship Club; Algeria sent $150,000 in flood relief aid to Elkader after severe 2008 flooding caused roughly $8 million in local damage. The town also hosts the annual Abdelkader Education Project international forum on cultural literacy and interfaith understanding. Separately, Elkader is known for its Keystone Bridge, a historic stone structure spanning the Turkey River.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Clayton County Veterans Affairs – County Office Building, 600 Gunder Road NE, Elkader, IA 52043 | (563) 245-1145.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Elkader Public Library (Elkader) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Elkader Keystone Bridge, Mascara Park, and the Elkader movie theater (also named Elkader) are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, well-documented story of Elkader’s naming – and its enduring, decades-long sister-city relationship with Mascara, Algeria – is among the most distinctive pieces of cross-cultural town history covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Clayton County Assessor’s Office – 111 High Street NE, Suite 104, Elkader, IA 52043 | (563) 245-2533.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Clayton County Humane Society (CCHS) – Elkader, IA; adoptions by appointment only; confirm current phone via claytoncountyhumane.org. Veterinary Associates of Clayton County (private large/small-animal veterinary clinic, established 2017) serves Elkader, Elgin, and Strawberry Point.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Clayton County Solid Waste / Environmental Health & Zoning – 600 Gunder Road NE, Suite 12, Elkader, IA 52043 | (563) 245-2451.
NOTES: Clayton County is the twenty-second county in Iowa’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, well-documented story of Elkader’s naming and its enduring sister-city relationship with Mascara, Algeria are among the most distinctive pieces of cross-cultural town history covered anywhere 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 Clayton County
Clayton County is northeast Iowa’s Driftless Area river town and keystone arch bridge county – the longest single-span stone arch bridge west of the Mississippi and the dramatic Mississippi River bluffs at Guttenberg define one of Iowa’s most scenically spectacular counties.
Elkader (the county seat, population ~1,200) is one of Iowa’s smallest county seats – named for Abd al-Qadir, the Algerian resistance leader, making it the only American city named for an Arab leader. Guttenberg (population ~1,700) on the Mississippi has an extraordinary river town character.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Clayton County Assessor at 111 High Street NE, Elkader, IA 52043, phone 563-245-2710. IA assessed at 100% market value with residential rollback.
Courts & Legal
Clayton County District Court at 111 High Street NE, Elkader, IA 52043, phone 563-245-2204, 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)
111 High St. NE, Elkader, IA 52043
(563) 245-1106
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Clayton County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Backbone State Park, Iowa’s first state park (established 1919), is a major regional natural landmark within the county.
Local societies
No dedicated Clayton 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
Clayton County District Court, 1st Judicial District 111 High Street NE, Elkader, IA 52043 (563) 245-2204
Clayton County is in northeastern Iowa along the Mississippi River, home to scenic bluffs and Backbone State Park, Iowa’s first state park.
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 Clayton 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
111 High St. NE, Elkader, IA 52043
(563) 245-1515
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY AUDITOR (Records, Elections, Finance)
111 High St. NE, Elkader, IA 52043
(563) 245-2204
ELECTIONS (County Auditor)
111 High St. NE, Elkader, IA 52043
(563) 245-2204
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Clayton County Health Dept
(563) 245-3713
Iowa DHHS — Region 1
(800) 338-8366
Iowa Medicaid
(800) 338-8366
Regional Health Services of Howard County (Cresco)
Office: Clayton County Public Health – 600 Gunder Road, Suite 5, Elkader, IA 52043.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Elkader
Population: 17,000
Area: 779 sq mi (one of Iowa's largest counties by area)
Established: 1837
Tier: 3
Public Records
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