History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/3/Counties/Monroe
MONROE COUNTY lies in the second tier north of the Missouri line and in the fifth west of the Mississippi River. It has twelve congressional townships containing an area of four hundred thirty-two square miles. The county was first named Kishkekosh and organized under that name but changed to Monroe August 1, 1846, in honor of the fifth President of the United States. A history of its organization and early settlements will be found in the sketch of Kishkekosh County. The name of the county-seat, Princeton, was changed to Albia. In 1854 A. C. Barnes established a newspaper at Albia in the interest of the “free soil” movement which was called the Albia Independent Press. The main line of the Burlington Railroad runs through the county from east to west with a branch to Des Moines.