The county was named after Joseph Story, a preeminent United States Supreme Court Justice, in 1853. The first settlers to the area came from Indiana, then from the New England states of New York and Pennsylvania. Later, many Norwegians, Germans and Danes came directly from overseas and inhabited the area. The first large population influx occurred during the 1850s. Story County was not mentioned in the Federal Census in 1850, but figures from the State of Iowa put the population at 214 in 1852. By 1860 the population had increased to 4,501.