WINNEBAGO COUNTY lies on the
Minnesota line about midway between the east and west
boundaries of the State. It was at one time a part of
the old county of Fayette but in 1851 was created by
act of the General Assembly with present boundaries
and named for the Indian tribe that at one time
occupied a portion of northern Iowa.
The county contains nearly twelve congressional
townships, making an area of four hundred three
square miles and was at different times attached to
the counties of Polk, Boone and Webster.
The first white settler within the limits of
Winnebago was George W. Thomas who, early in 1855,
took a claim and opened a farm at Rice Lake. On the
27th of September of the same year John Mabin made a
claim on the east side of Lime Creek where Forest
City stands. P. Tennis, J. Gilchrist and J. C. Bonar
arrived during the summer of 1856 and Robert Clark,
John S. Blowers, A. T. Cole, Henry Allen, J. L. Hitt
and others settled in the southern part of the county
with their families. In the fall of the same year
Samuel Tennis, Archibald Murray and William Gilbert
made homes in the northern part of the county. In
1857 several Norwegian families arrived and from year
to year many of their countrymen joined them, making
a large settlement of that nationality.
Most of the early settlers made their homes in the
groves along Lime Creek which were numerous and
abounded in game. This stream is a tributary of
Shellrock River and affords good water power. Twin
Lakes and Rice Lake in the eastern part of the county
are clear and beautiful sheets of water. The greater
part of the land of Winnebago west of Lime Creek is
rolling prairie of great fertility.
In the fall of 1856 Judge Robert Clark laid out a
town on the west bank of Lime Creek, half a mile from
the south line of the county, which was named Forest
City. A post-office was established of which Mr.
Clark was post-master. He built a mill on the creek
and opened a store.
The county was organized in the fall of 1857 by
the election of the following officers: Robert Clark,
judge; C. H. Day, recorder and treasurer; B. F.
Dinslow, clerk; John S. Blowers, sheriff, and C. W.
Scott, superintendent of schools. In 1858 the
commissioners chosen to locate the county-seat gave
it to Forest City.
On the 14th of June, 1867, J. W. Kelley issued the
first number of a weekly newspaper named the Winnebago
Press. It was printed on an old hand press which
was first used at Belmont when that town was the
Capital of Wisconsin and Iowa. It was moved to
Burlington in 1837 and used to print the second paper
established within the limits of the Territory which
became Iowa in 1838 and is reported to have done good
service on papers at Osage, Mason City and Ellington
before it was taken to Forest City.
In the fall of 1869 the village of Lake Mills was
laid out by Charles D. Smith where a large mill was
built.
