Centerville is a city in and the county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Appanoose County

Appanoose County, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 12,884 in the county, with a population density of . There were 6,633 housing units, of which 5,627 were occupied.-2000 census:...

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, United States. The population was 5,528 in the 2010 census, a decline from 5,924 in the 2000 census. After the turn of the 20th century Centerville had a booming coal mining industry that attracted many European immigrants. The city today remains the home of many Swedish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Croatian-Americans, Albanian-Americans and others descended from immigrants who worked in the mines.
Founded in 1846 by Jonathon Stratton under the name of "Chaldea," the city was planned around a unique two-block long city square.