Harrison County, Iowa

Harrison County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

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Named: Meaning of County Name

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History

The first territorial governor of Indiana and ninth president of the U.S., William Henry Harrison, is the namesake of Harrison County.

The county was established in 1851. Locating commissioners selected a site for the county seat and named it Magnolia in 1853. The 160 acres was donated by the United States Government. A log cabin courthouse was built at this site, and in September 1854, it and all of the county records were destroyed in a fire.

A second courthouse was built later in 1854 with proceeds from the sale of town lots. This building was used until 1873, when it was condemned. At this time a brick building was constructed at a cost of $5,000. In 1876 the county seat was moved to Logan and this building was sold to the Methodist Episcopal Church of Magnolia.

A full block of land was donated by the city of Logan for the third courthouse. In 1877 a two-story 55-foot x 70-foot brick building was constructed at a cost of $14,000. The residents of Logan paid $9,000, and the county paid $5,000.

In 1890 it had become apparent that the county had outgrown the courthouse. There was still some debate on the location of the county seat, so even after a grand jury had condemned the old courthouse, a proposal to construct a new one was defeated in an election. It was not until 1910 that a $100,000 bond issue was approved.

Construction of the present courthouse commenced on July 5, 1910. The architect was J. E. Mills of Detroit and the contractor was W. J. McAlpine of Dixon, Ill. The 68-foot x 96-foot building was constructed of steel and concrete. It is faced with Bedford limestone. Total cost of construction and equipment of the courthouse was $103,205.15.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Crawford County
East: Shelby County
Southeast: Pottawattamie County
Southwest: Washington County, Neb.
Northwest: Burt County, Neb.; Monona County

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County Resource Guide

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.”

Penn Foster High School

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