FLOYD, a new county in the N. N. E. part of Iowa, has an area of about 550 square miles. It is intersected by Cedar river, and also drained by Lime and Shellrock creeks, (branches of English river.) which unite in the S. W. part of the county. The slope of the county is south-eastward. It is not included in the census of 1850. County seat not yet located. (Baldwin's New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States..., 1854)
FLOYD COUNTY Is in the second tier of counties from the northern boundary of the State, and the fourth west of the Mississippi river, and is bounded on the north by Mitchell, on the east by Chickasaw, on the south by Butler, and on the west by Cerro Gordo counties. It is watered by the following streams, which flow in a southeasterly direction: The Little Cedar River flowing through the northeastern portion of the county; Cedar River entering near the centre of the northern boundary, and passing out near the southeast corner; Lime Creek, flowing into Shell Rock River, and Shell Rock River flowing through the southwestern portion of the county. “These are all beautiful and rapid streams, skirted with timber, and furnishing good water power at numerous points. There are also many rock exposures in the banks of these streams, although no high bluffs occur, the ledges of rock not usually exceeding ten or twenty feet in height. The region between the valleys of the streams is mostly gently rolling prairie, destitute of timber, which is almost exclusively confined to the edges of the streams; the soil is usually highly fertile. The settlements are chiefly in the neighborhood of the rivers, where timber, water power and building materials are abundant, and where the flourishing condition of most of the towns attests the presence of an industrious population, possessed of unusual advantages of position and soil.” The county was organized in 1854.
The Cedar Valley Railroad, which is now completed to Waverly, will eventually pass through the eastern part of the county, thus affording a ready market for all kinds of produce. (Hair's Iowa State Gazetteer..., 1865)