If you are planning on building a new house in the rural areas of Cass County, you will need a rural address. You can apply for an address by completing the “Rural Address Application Form” and submit it along with the $50.00 addressing fee. Instructions on completing the application are on the form.
Streets and Roads
In rural Cass County, streets run north and south and roads run east and west. With a few exceptions, most north/south streets are numbered and east/west roads are named.
540th Street is the border between Pottawattamie County and Cass County on the west, and 780th Street is the border between Cass County and Adair County on the east. Our roads started with 540th Street to continue the numbering sequence from Pottawattamie County. Streets are set on the section line, therefore 550th Street would be 1 mile east of the Pottawattamie County/Cass County line, and 560th would be 2 miles etc. Streets that are between sections end with a numeral that best approximates the tenths of a mile from the closest section line to the west.
Named roads begin alphabetically on the northern county line with Akron Road and proceed south to Youngstown Road at the south county line. Most named roads are named after cities.
For historical reasons, roads such as Troublesome Creek Road, Indian Creek Road, White Pole Road, and others have been officially given those names.
Currently, most street signs in Cass County are blue. However, United States Department of Transportation regulations require that signs be green on certain roads based on traffic count. Therefore, you will be noticing green signs replacing the blue ones, especially on major roads. Eventually, all street signs in Cass County will be green.
Rural Address Numbers
The numbering system established for rural Cass County allows for up to 1000 addresses in one mile! Numbering starts at the northwest corner of the county with odd number addresses on the west and south sides of the road and even number addresses on the east and north sides of the road. Numbering for rural addresses on north/south roads begin with 54 and proceed east to 77. Numbering for rural addresses on east/west roads begin with 50 and proceed south to 73. All address numbers, with the exception of certain subdivisions, have 5 digits in the address.
The first two digits of a rural address represent the section or “block” you’re in. The third digit represents the number of tenths of a mile you are from either the north or west section line, and the last 2 two digits are the approximate numerical location within the tenth of a mile.
The address number assigned to your property is not unique. If your address is 58911 White Pole Road, there may also be a 58911 Jackson Road or 58911 630th Street.
If you are building a new home in rural Cass County, or would like to have an address assigned to an existing non-addressed location, please fill out the “Rural Address Application Form” and submit it along with the $50.00 addressing fee.
