{"id":54,"date":"2014-11-03T10:58:58","date_gmt":"2014-11-03T16:58:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/50.28.89.84\/~cchs2\/wpcchs\/?p=54"},"modified":"2014-11-05T17:18:23","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T23:18:23","slug":"county-seat-battles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carvercountyhistoricalsociety.org\/wpcchs\/history-topics\/county-seat-battles\/","title":{"rendered":"County Seat Battles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carver County was formed in 1855. The first county seat was located in San Francisco Village in San Francisco Township. After just one short year, flooding and distance caused a vote to move the location of the county seat. It was moved to Chaska, where is has been ever since. Over the years, though, there have been very intense battles trying to remove the seat to a more central location. What follows are the details of these battles as gleaned from newspaper accounts of the time.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em> Over the years, there was talk and debate in 1870, 1872, 1880 and most intensely in 1920 about removal of the county seat from Chaska to either Benton or Waconia. During the winter of 1870, a select committee of Carver County residents took a resolution to the state Legislature to introduce plans to allow county residents to vote on where the county seat would be located- Chaska, Waconia or Benton. When nothing came of this, Waconia residents teamed with Benton to have the seat moved there in 1872. In responses in the Chaska paper, it was asked if taxpayers could afford the debt of a new building. That attempt, too, was dropped. The 1880 attempt to move the seat to Waconia never got past the discussion stage, and was mentioned in only one issue of one paper.<\/p>\n

This brings us to the most elaborate and intense attempts at removal, which occurred between April and June of 1920. In this case, the removal battle was between the cities of Waconia and Chaska. This battle involved many back-and-forth arguments, accusations, ridicule and mudslinging. The Waconia County Seat Removal Committee argued that the county seat should be centrally located, as it was unfair to make people in the northern and western parts of the county travel 20-30 miles to Chaska when other cities only had to travel six miles. A later article presented three arguments: economy, convenience, and cost.<\/p>\n

For economy, it was argued the county would pay out less in mileage and fees to those making the trip to be jurors, etc. For convenience, they argued \u201cAt present, the people in the north and west end of the county who pay the same rate of county tax, fulfill the same obligations to serve on juries and attend court and have business before the commissioners and in probate court the same as do citizens of the east end of the county, are required to travel 20-30 miles across the county [. . .] It is a matter of justice that all the people of the county should have equal opportunity to share in its facilities and participate in the activities of government.\u201d The third argument was that the cost of new buildings to replace the dilapidated ones in Chaska would be minimal. A petition was signed by 2,471 people, what they said was 83% of people outside Chaska, calling for a public vote.<\/p>\n

Chaska\u2019s Civic Committee responded with arguments questioning how the committee got signatures on the petition, touting the small number of signers (2,471 out of 4,000), and saying the proposed building costs were laughable, and telling the \u201cintelligent, thrifty, and progressive\u201d taxpayers not to be fooled. Arguments then turned into accusations back and forth, using sensational language like \u201cludicrous\u201d, \u201cthe fight is on\u201d, \u201creal arguments only will count\u201d, arguments \u201cseem plausible on the surface but underneath are only an empty shell\u201d, ideas were \u201cludicrous in the extreme\u201d, and \u201cChaska fires opening gun. . .deadly missile was filled with hot air.\u201d<\/p>\n

The public vote was held June 18, 1920, and resulted in Chaska\u2019s favor. With the largest vote in the history of the county up to that time, Waconia received 1,989 votes to Chaska\u2019s 2,372. A massive victory celebration was held in Chaska.<\/p>\n

In 1951, prominent brickyard and bank owner Charles Klein passed away, leaving a bequest of $500,000 for a new courthouse, on the condition that it be built in Chaska. In 1962, a bond for $850,000 was brought to vote in the county, to supplement Klein\u2019s fund. The bond passed and a new courthouse was constructed in Chaska to replace the small, outdated, historic courthouse. One paper claimed, \u201cit\u2019s conceivable [Klein\u2019s] bequest stopped another county seat struggle from materializing.\u201d Klein was active in town in the 1920\u2019s, and was most likely familiar with the feud. Whether or not those were his true reasons for the bequest, or just to support his town, history may never no. There were no more county seat battles after that time, however. The county seat was, and remains, in the city of Chaska.<\/p>\n

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\u201cCarver County, The Way it Was . . .Removing the County Seat to Chaska.\u201d Waconia Patriot, <\/em>February 12, 1976.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCarver County Will have Red-Hot County Seat Fight.\u201d Waconia Patriot, <\/em>April 15, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cChaska Fires Opening Gun. . .Deadly Missile was Filled with Hot Air.\u201d Young America Eagle, <\/em>April 30, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cChaska Victory in County Seat Fight . . .Largest Vote in History of County.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>June 24, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCost of Removal Will Not Be Burdensome.\u201d Waconia Patriot, <\/em>April 15, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCounty Commissioners Announce Courthouse Steering Committee.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>October 4, 1962.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCounty Seat of Carver County Should Be Centrally Located.\u201d Waconia Patriot, <\/em>April 8, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCounty Seat Question.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>October 17, 1872.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCounty Seat Question.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>March 4, 1880.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCounty Seat Removal.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>October 3, 1872.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCounty Seat- Resolution.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>February 3, 1870.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCourthouse Site Selected.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>January 10, 1963.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIssue Passes in Record Vote.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>November 8, 1962.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPetition Filed- The Fight is On. Tell The Truth- Don\u2019t Garble.\u201d Young America Eagle, <\/em>May 14, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cReal Arguments Only, Will Count.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>April 22, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cRemoval of the County Seat.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>January 25, 1872.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWaconia Is Readily Accessible from All Parts of Carver County.\u201d Waconia Patriot, <\/em>May 13, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Others Say About County Seat Question.\u201d Waconia Patriot, <\/em>June 30, 1920. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy the Courthouse Should Be Moved.\u201d Young America Eagle, <\/em>June 18, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Secondary:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c60 Times $500,000 Equals What–?\u201d Waconia Patriot, <\/em>May 13, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAdditional Facts on Building Costs.\u201d Young America Eagle, <\/em>April 23, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAn Amusing Proposition.\u201d Young America Eagle, <\/em>April 30, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cA Real Hot Time in the Old Town\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>June 24, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBeware of Misleading Last Minute Rumors.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>June 17, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCarver County\u2019s Courthouse.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>June 3, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCarver County Seat Removal Petition.\u201d Young America Eagle, <\/em>May 7, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGrand Jury Members Say Chaska Doesn\u2019t Tell The Truth.\u201d Young America Eagle, <\/em>May 7, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThat County Seat Question.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>April 15, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe County Seat Question.\u201d Waconia Patriot, <\/em>April 1, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Victory Celebration.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>June 24, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Our Chance!\u201d Young America Eagle, <\/em>June 11, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWaconia Makes Bid for County Seat.\u201d Weekly Valley Herald, <\/em>April 8, 1920.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carver County was formed in 1855. The first county seat was located in San Francisco Village in San Francisco Township. After just one short year, flooding and distance caused a vote to move the location of the county seat. It was moved to Chaska, where is has been ever since. Over the years, though, there … <\/p>\n

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