Iowa State...
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Iowa Counties
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Emmet County, Iowa
Emmet County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat:
Year Organized:
Square Miles:
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Court House: Put address here
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Named: Meaning of County Name State & County QuickFacts:
History
Emmet County was one of 50 new
counties set up by Governor Stephen Hempstead on January 15, 1851. It is named
after the Irish orator, nationalist and patriot Robert Emmet. He was executed in
1803 for his activity in the Irish rebellion.
The boundaries of the county have stayed the same ever since its establishment
in 1851. Since whites were scattered so thinly, it was not until 1856 that the
first settlers came to Emmet County. At this time Emmet was attached to Webster
County for governmental purposes.
In the winter of 1858-59 the residents of Emmet County decided it was "below
their dignity to remain any longer under the jurisdiction of Webster County." A
petition was circulated and they were granted separate organization on February
7, 1859.
Two commissioners were entrusted with the selection of the county seat. They
surveyed the county and decided on the site of Estherville. Plans were started
and a contract was negotiated for the erection of a school house and courthouse.
They were to be financed through the sale of the swamp lands that lay within the
county. The survey, which was done by the county, was not accepted by the
surveyor-general, and the county failed to obtain title to the land. The school
house was already completed, but the construction of the courthouse was
immediately stopped when it was discovered that the county had no land to
transfer to the contractors for payment. The schoolhouse was moved and used as a
courthouse until 1876, when it was destroyed by a fire.
Since its conception the county seat at Estherville has not faired well with the
residents of the eastern part of the county, who felt it should be more
centrally located. They were hesitant due to the cost of building a new
courthouse at a new site. However, with the burning of the courthouse in 1876,
the opposition to Estherville grew. Petitions were circulated calling for an
election on the removal of the county seat. At the same time a remonstrance was
filed and submitted to the board.
An election was held on October 14, 1879, with Swan Lake being the alternate
site. Swan Lake won the election, and the Board was instructed to move to the
new county seat. They refused, and even after a district court action, the
county seat was not formally established at Swan Lake until January 9, 1880.
Proceedings were instituted in the courts to test the legality of the first
election, and, in 1882, a petition was filed calling for another election. The
Board granted it, and on November 7, 1882, a second election was held. This time
Estherville won the right to the county seat. In spite of the claim that the
workers building the B.C.R.& N. had voted illegally, the election was declared
legal, and Estherville again became the county seat on January 15, 1883.
Following this a courthouse was built at Estherville at a cost of $12,000. It
was located on the city square, which was given to the county by the city.
It was around 1916 when the need for a new courthouse was discovered, but it was
not until 1954 that a grand jury voted to recommend that the county build a new
courthouse. Plans were drawn up, and bids were let. The Lundquist Construction
Company of LeMars was awarded the contract and the cornerstone was laid on June
1, 1957. It was ready for occupation on July 28, 1958, and the wrecking of the
old courthouse began.
Source: Dorothy Mergen, Emmet County Recorder
Neighboring Counties:
- Northeast: Martin County, Minn.
- Southeast: Kossuth County
- South: Palo Alto County
- Southwest: Clay County
- West: Dickinson County
- Northwest: Jackson County, Minn.
Cities:
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we’ve given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the “characteristic features of
our country!”
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn’t the only reason to explore counties’ role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.
Today’s counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990’s political slogan “Think globally, act locally.” |
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Penn Foster High School
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