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Iowa State...
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Iowa Counties
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Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Oskaloosa
Year Organized: 1843
Square Miles: 571
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Court House: 106 South 1st Street
County Courthouse
Oskaloosa, IA 52577-3101
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
Mahaska is named for Mahaska, a chief of the Iowa Native American tribe.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick
Facts
History
Mahaska County was established in
1843 and originated February 5, 1844, the date Iowa's Territorial Legislature
enacted the law authorizing the organization of a county named Mahaska. The
county was named for one of the most noted chief of the Ioway Indians. Mahaska
is interpreted as "White Cloud." Oskaloosa, meaning "last of beautiful" after a
Creek Indian princess, was named the county seat.
By this law Mahaska County became two years older than the State of Iowa.
William Edmundson, receiving his appointment from the Territorial Assembly,
became the first sheriff and justice of peace and was charged with the
organization of the twenty-four mile square county. With the help of his clerk,
Micajah T. Williams, these two officers divided the county into nine precincts,
and by the first Monday in April 1844, an election was held for county officers.
On May 11, 1844 a Commission of three men, appointed from Iowa's Assembly,
selected a site for the county seat. The location was the narrowest point on the
divide between the Des Moines and Skunk rivers, known as the "Narrows". They
left the naming of the new town to the local Board of County Commissioners, who
chose the name of Oskaloosa, meaning "last of Beautiful" in honor of a Creek
Indian princess.
The County Commissioners, by May 14, 1844, had chosen the grand and petit jurors
for the first term of the District Court to be held July 1, 1844. The courtroom
was an unfinished log cabin built by William D. Canfield and located within the
present limits of Oskaloosa. The first Court House owned by the county was a
two-story frame structure built at the northwest corner of the square and
occupied in January 1846. It was also used for a church, opera house, and Indian
dances. It was abandoned in 1855 and thirty years passed before the first
permanent Court House, now located east of the square, was built at a cost of
$132,500 and dedicated on February 27, 1886.
Over the years, extensive remodeling has kept this courthouse up-to-date enough
to meet the county's needs.
Coal mining brought the county its first sources of wealth.
During the county's first years, vehicles were scarce. The sheriff owned the
only buggy. By 1860 the Western Stage Company was doing a thriving business into
the county seat from the river. The Des Moines Valley railroad reached the
county in 1864, and the Iowa Central Railroad in 1871.
The first County Fair was held in the public square on October 23, 1852, and in
1861 the traveling State Fair was held in Oskaloosa.
Sources:
Kay Swanson, Mahaska County Auditor, 2002
Jon Lubke, Mahaska County GIS/MIS Coordinator, 2002
Neighboring Counties:
- North: Poweshiek County
- East: Keokuk County
- Southeast: Wapello County
- Southwest: Monroe County
- West: Marion County
- Northwest: Jasper County
Cities and Towns:
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- Barnes City |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Beacon |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Fremont |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Keomah Village |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Leighton |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- New Sharon |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Oskaloosa
(County
Seat) |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Rose Hill |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- University Park |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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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State Symbols
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Official state symbols represent the cultural heritage
and natural treasures of each state or the entire United States These US state insignia, emblems, and mascots are designated by tradition or the
respective state legislatures |
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