HISTORY: Calhoun County, Iowa From the A.T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875 ************************************************* Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************* ________________________________________________________ NOTE: For more information on Calhoun County, Iowa Please visit the Calhoun County, IAGenWeb page at http://iagenweb.org/calhoun/ ________________________________________________________ CALHOUN COUNTY. Calhoun County is in the fourth tier from the northern boundary, and the fourth county from the western boundary of the state. It is 24 miles square, and therefore embraces an area of 368,640 acres. By the census of 1875, there was 26,996 acres under cultivation. It contains but a limited supply of timber, the proportion being about one acre of timber land to one thousand of prairie. Although it may be considered one of the northwestern counties, it is wholly upon the Mississippi slope. The western portions are drained by Coon River and its tributaries, Lake and Camp Creeks, with other smaller streams. The south fork of Lizard River crosses the extreme northeast corner, collecting the drainage of two or three townships in that quarter. All the streams have shallow, though well defined valleys, and are bordered by narrow bottoms. The valley of North Coon River, in the vicinity of Lake City, has a depth of from 80 to 100 feet below the bordering upland prairies. There are several lakes in the northern and eastern portions of the county. Two of these are known by the name of Twin Lakes, which embrace within their margins an area of about seventeen hundred acres. In some places their shores are studded with limestone and granite boulders, having, in some parts, the resemblance of rude walls. Their beds are sandy or gravelly, covered with a depth of from five to twenty feet of water, abundantly supplied with fish of various kinds. The most northern of Twin Lakes is about two and one-half miles long, with an average width of half a mile. The south lake is more quadrangular in outline. The two lakes have the appearance of being once connected. One of the two lakes in Iowa (the other being in Wright County) known by the name of Walled Lake, is in this county. Its borders in places present the appearance of rude masonry, with the large boulders resting upon each in nearly regular layers. This, however, is characteristic of many of the small lakes in Northern Iowa, and the formation of these walls is attributed to natural causes. Some peat deposits have been discovered in the county. There are but few exposures of stone. The terraces, or "second bottoms" along some of the streams, constitute a pleasing feature of the valley scenery, and also afford some of the finest agricultural lands in the county. Materials for the manufacture of brick are abundant. For grazing purposes, this county is one of the best in the state, as it is a natural grass- producing region, and water for stock may be easily obtained. The prairies are generally undulating. The higher lands are covered by a dark gravelly loam, adapted to crops of all kinds common to the latitude. HISTORICAL. Ebenezer Comstock was the first white man that settled in the county. He moved his family into the county and settled near where Lake City now is, in April, 1854. He had to go to Des Moines, then called Fort Des Moines, for his provisions and mail matter, a distance of 85 miles. Among the early settlers were, John Condron, William Impson, J. C. M. Smith, and Peter Smith, from Cass County, Michigan. The county was organized in August, 1855, by Judge Phillips, of Green County, at which time there was a population of less than one hundred. The first election was held at the house of C. Smith, in August, 1855, for county officers, the following being elected; Peter Smith, County Judge; C. Smith, Treasurer; Joel Golden, Clerk; E. Vanhorn, Recorder; Ebenezer Comstock, Prosecuting Attorney; and William Oxenford, Sheriff. At this election there were nine votes cast. All the men in the county had offices but two—not quite offices enough to go around. THE COUNTY SEAT. Honorable C. I. McFarland, Judge of the 5th Judicial District, appointed William Phillips, John F. Howes, Rufus Keigley, commissioners to locate the county seat, October 10, 1855. They located it in town 87, range 33, section 34. The citizens, January 7, 1856, petitioned to change the location, and it was submitted to a vote of the people at the April election, 1856. Twenty-one votes were cast "for the removal of the county seat to southwest quarter of southeast quarter of section 7, and northwest quarter of northeast of section 18, township 86 north, of range 33," and none against it. The contract to survey and lay out the same into village lots was let to Charles Arney. The good citizens thought it best to make the place or village appear to be one of importance, to name it Lake City. The first school was taught near Lake City in the Fall of 1856, by Daniel Reed. The first religious meeting was held by the Methodists. The first district court was held in June, 1859, by Honorable A. W. Hubbard, District Judge. This county was formerly called Fox County, and is so named in some of the early maps. The Illinois Central Railroad from Dubuque to Sioux City passes through the northern part of this county. By the census of 1875, the population of the several townships was as follows' Butler, 247; Calhoun, 828; Center, 174; Greenfield, 236; Jackson, 690; Lincoln, 465; Sherman, 410; Williams, 135; making the total population 3,185, and the number of votes 681. LAKE CITY Is located in the southern part of the county, and has been the county seat since the early organization. It is in the midst of a fine agricultural region three miles north of North Coon River on a high prairie. The first house built on the new town site was by Charles Arney, in 1857. The first store house was erected by Peter Smith and David Reed. The first newspaper published in the county, was issued here by E. W. Wood, called the Calhoun County Pioneer. MANSOR is on the railroad in the northeastern part of the county. It is a new village, and has several business houses, churches, schools, etc. POMEROY is in the extreme north part of the center of the county on the railroad. The town has been laid off in lots by the Iowa Falls & Sioux City Railroad Land Company, located at Cedar Rapids. The country around is rich and fertile, and well suited for farming purposes. In some localities it is quite thickly settled. CALHOUN CENTER is very near the center of the county, and aspires to the county seat. It is on the line of the proposed Iowa Pacific Railroad.