Anybody who’s stared at a map of Iowa’s 99 counties has most likely contemplated this query: What’s up with Kossuth County?

At 974 sq. miles, Kossuth is Iowa’s largest county by way of complete land space and stands proud on any state map due to its size. North to south, Kossuth is about 41 miles lengthy whereas O’Brien County, for instance, is 24 miles north to south. 

One other enjoyable reality: O’Brien County’s borders go 24 miles in every path and it’s a excellent sq.. Moreover, the county seat of Primghar is the one Primghar on the planet and it was purposefully established instantly within the middle of O’Brien County.

The plain reply to why Kossuth is so massive is that it was imagined to be two counties—on multiple event—however, like a black gap composed of farmland, Kossuth absorbed these wannabe counties.

Kossuth County was a part of a serious legislative act handed by the Third Iowa Normal Meeting on Jan. 15, 1851, that created 50 new counties, giving Iowa an excellent 100. 

Like O’Brien County, which was additionally created by this laws, Kossuth County was an ideal sq. and went 24 miles in every path when it was created.

North of it was Bancroft County, Iowa’s fabled one hundredth county—or was it?

 A handful of counties that now not exist had been created by this act together with Buncombe, Fox, Risley, Wahkaw, and Yell counties.

On the time of its creation, Bancroft County was 24 miles vast and 17 miles from its southern border (Kossuth County was beneath it) to the Minnesota state line. Bancroft (and Kossuth) County’s panorama was described as “trackless prairie” and limitless swamp,” in accordance with “The Counties and Courthouses of Iowa.”

A lot of the counties created by the 1851 act had been uninhabited or sparsely inhabited by white settlers and Kossuth County boosters used this to their benefit to soak up Bancroft County, though their plans had been way more formidable.

Algona, the Kossuth County seat, was based in 1854 by brothers Asa C. Name and Ambrose A. Name. The city was initially referred to as Name’s Grove—I’m certain you’ll be able to deduce why—and so they had been the primary white settlers in Kossuth County.    

The Name brothers had been influential in Iowa politics, particularly Asa, who was a decide. Decide Name persuaded the Iowa Legislature in 1855 to broaden the border of Kossuth County to incorporate all of Bancroft County to the north and the northern half of Humboldt County to the south. The opposite half of Humboldt County was absorbed by Webster County.

Nonetheless, two years after it authorized its demise, the Iowa Legislature voted to revive Humboldt County. This compelled Kossuth County to surrender all eight townships it absorbed whereas Webster County acquired away with solely returning 4 of the eight townships it acquired.

So why did Bancroft County get added to Kossuth County? In response to the Iowa Legislative Providers Company (LSA), Bancroft County was by no means formally organized, which made it ripe for the choosing.

The 1857 act that restored Humbolt County didn’t have an effect on the previous Bancroft County, however a second try to separate Kossuth County arose in 1870 when the Iowa Legislature referred to as for the formation of Crocker County in the identical space that when housed Bancroft County.

In response to the LSA, residents of southern Kossuth County didn’t take kindly to the formation of Crocker County as a result of they loved the designation of being Iowa’s largest county—one thing that appears to be true to at the present time.

Somewhat than bellyache, the southern Kossuthers (fairly certain I simply made that phrase up) took to the courts. They argued that Crocker County didn’t include the minimal of 432 sq. miles required by the Iowa Structure to be a county.

For the file, there are a minimum of 13 Iowa counties that don’t meet this criterion, together with Dickinson County—house of the Iowa Nice Lakes and the inspiration for an early “X-Recordsdata” episode—which was additionally a part of the 1851 county growth that created Kossuth.

Nonetheless, the Iowa Supreme Court docket agreed with the southern Kossuthers’ argument and the act that created Crocker County was deemed unconstitutional.

I must also word that Kossuth County didn’t make it simple for its northern residents to separate. In response to “Historical past of Kossuth County,” the Kossuth County Board of Supervisors instructed the county treasurer to proceed to gather taxes from Crocker County residents and the brand new county. This meant Crocker County was broke.

Additionally in accordance with “The Historical past of Kossuth County,” the Kossuth County Board of Supervisors authorized a decision that threw large quantities of shade at Crocker County and justified why they continued to gather taxes there even after Crocker County requested them if they may cease:

“..there could be time sufficient to regulate the ultimate variations between the counties at any time when Kossurth had proof that corresponding to county as Crocker existed.”

Kossuth: Iowa’s largest and most shady county.

After an inglorious 19 months by itself, Crocker County was reabsorbed by Kossuth County, though it by no means left in accordance with the tax rolls.

You’ll assume after two failed makes an attempt to divvy up the map monstrosity that’s Kossuth County the state would get the message and depart the light big alone, however then you definitely could be fallacious.

In February 1913, the Iowa Legislature once more tried to separate northern Kossuth County—the third model of this space could be referred to as Larrabee County—from its southern half. This was a sensible play by the northern Kossuthers because the county could be named after former Iowa Gov. William Larrabee, who had died the yr earlier than.

Nonetheless, the southern Kossuthers had been having none of that.

After intense lobbying, the upstarts from the yet-to-exist Larrabee County persuaded the legislature to introduce a invoice that might permit solely folks in northern Kossuth County to vote in an election to find out whether or not or not that space would stay in Kossuth or develop into its personal county.

That measure didn’t garner sufficient assist within the legislature, however a petition by the southern Kossuthers to make it a county-wide vote was profitable. In 1914, Kossuth County voters—each north and south—took to the polls. The measure to separate the county was overwhelmingly defeated 3,599 to 920, in accordance with the LSA.

The third time was the allure and there hasn’t been one other formal try to separate up Kossuth County since.

by Ty Speeding
07/06/022

To contact Senior Editor Ty Speeding for ideas or story concepts, electronic mail him at ty@iowastartingline.com or discover him on Twitter @Rushthewriter 

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