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Less than a century ago, the first permanent
settlement was made in Boone County, which is located in the heart of the
Mississippi Valley, constituting the world’s greatest area of productive
soil. Boone County is a little west of the center of Iowa and is
bisected by the Des Moines River, the largest river in the state.
The county is twenty-four miles square and contains 368,640 acres.
It is divided into seventeen townships, eight on the east side of the
river and nine on the west side.
Among the hardy pioneers to migrate west to Boone
County was a man of character, bravery, and skill . . . Daniel Boone.
His son Nathan, inherited a great many traits of his father and became
Colonel of the United States Dragoons and was in command of on e of the
first companies in this section of country. He was among the first
white men who explored the region and gave correct account of its natural
resources. As a tribute to his memory the county bears his name.
The first white man who resided in the present limits of Boone County was
Colonel L. W. Babbitt. The honor of being the first settler is
claimed for different parties, but it is generally conceded this honor
should be given to Charles W. Gaston, January 1846. The first
settlement at Swede Point (now the town of Madrid) was made in 1846.
The town of Ogden to the west, was incorporated, May 1878.
Montgomery McCall settled near the present site of Boonsboro (now West
Boone) in February 1847. At the time of final organization in 1849,
there were about 400 inhabitants of the county. The town of
Boonsboro was incorporated in 1865. During the fall of 1866 the town
of Boone Station was incorporated and officers chosen. Some time
after its incorporation the name of the town was changed to Montana and in
1872 it was again changed to Boone.
There was intense rivalry between the towns of Boone
and Boonsboro, but these two towns are now merged into the modern city of
Boone.
Briefly stated the important events which followed
during the course of years might be summarized as follows:
- The county was named and the boundaries defined in
February 1847.
- Boonsboro was located July 9, 1851.
- County formally organized, 1849.
- First white child born, Henry Hull, 1848.
- First marriage, Henry Holcomb to Mary J Hull,
1848.
- First term of court, October 6, 1851.
- First land entered, Matthias Hoffman, October
1848.
- First land transfer, Henry Everly to Eric Dalander,
March 1849.
- First mortgage executed, John Redpath to P. K.
Detrick , May 1851.
- First mill erected, 1848-49.
- First newspaper published, spring of 1857.
- First mail received in Boonsboro, 1851
- Boone laid out, March 24, 1865.
- Court House built, 1867.
- Railroad completed to Boone, July 17, 1865.
- First coal mine opened, 1866.
The first election was held at the house of John C.
Crooks, August 6, 1849, for the purpose of electing county officers and
board of public works.
A legendary incident, which has been proclaimed
throughout the surrounding territory, has been linked with Boone County
through the heroism of Kate Shelley. Living at Honey Creek in
southwest Boone County, Kate Shelley braved a raging rainstorm to warn
passengers of a night express that the bridge at Honey Creek had been
washed out. She crossed the Des Moines River from Honey Creek to
Moingona, at which point the train was to arrive, and averted this
terrible catastrophe. The express was saved by her heroic effort and
a special tribute was paid her memory and a bronze plaque dedicated in
memory of her as recently as July 1956.
The present Court House was built in 1917, on the
same site as the first one erected in 1867.
Various transportation systems prospered in the
county . . .the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul from Des Moines to
Boone; Fort Dodge Des Moines & Southern from Des Moines to Boone, and
on to Fort Dodge; and the Chicago & North Western Railway. The
county is traversed from east to west by U.S. Highway No. 30 and from
north to south by U. S. Highway No. 169 and State Highway No. 17.
Northern Natural Gas Company extended the march of progress in the county
when their lines were brought across Iowa through Boone County.
Their huge compressor station is located at Ogden. Other
incorporated towns and villages include Beaver, Berkley, Boxholm, Fraser,
Luther, Madrid, Pilot Mount, Sheldahl, (within the County), BOONE, the
county seat, with magnificent public buildings, forms the center of the
judicial affairs of the county, while Ogden is considered the trade center
on the west side of the river and Madrid the trade center in the southeast
corner of the county.
Surrounding these three towns lies some of the most
fertile farming lands of the great Middle West, making Boone County an
ideal spot in which to live.
-from I. A. ‘WHO’S WHO OF
IOWA,’ 1940 |
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