TOWNS
The Dallas County Courthouse is located at 801 Court Street, Adel, IA 50003. Administrative offices are located at 902 Court Street, Adel, IA 50003; phone: 515-993-5814.
The first settlers in what would become Dallas County arrived sometime during the Fall of 1845, not long after the Indian title was extinguished. Two brothers, Daniel and Lewis Stump, came through the southern part of the county, prospecting, and finally selected and staked out claims in what is now Van Meter, a short distance below the forks and north of the Raccoon River. During the early part of that winter they made rails for fencing and built a cabin, 16 x 18 feet, one-story high. Sometime during the following February (1846) their sister Mary and brother John came and kept house for them. [1]