Audubon Map
Audubon is a city and the county seat in Audubon County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,176 in the 2010 census, a decline from 2,382 in the 2000 census.
The city is named for John James Audubon the world famous ornithologist, artist, and painter.
Audubon was laid out by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, on September 23, 1878. An auction sale of town lots was held on October 15, 1878 with a total sales of $6,190. The railroad was completed on December 6, 1878 and by December 16, 1878 over fifty houses, a bank , five general stores, one jewelry store, two hotels, one restaurant, three meat markets, three blacksmith shops, one harness shop, one livery stable, two coal yards, two lumber yards, one elevator, three grain dealers, and a school house were built. With the four months of rapid growth in Audubon there was already talk of moving the county seat from Exira which was 13 miles away. In 1879 the railroad built what was to become the county courthouse and leased it to the county for five years free of cost, in case the county seat was moved to Audubon. In the 1879 general election the vote approved the moving of the county seat to Audubon.
Nearby cities include Elk Horn, Brayton, Templeton, Dedham, Manning.