O'Brien, the first town and county seat in O'Brien County, was located on the Moding farm, three miles west of Peterson in the period from 1861 through 1872.

  The entire area west of Peterson and Clay County was un-surveyed, uninhabited land making up the Territory of Woodbury in the spring of 1856.

  After the settlement of Hannibal H. Waterman, as well as many other settlements, O'Brien County was organized, officials were elected, and a small courthouse was built near the Waterman settlement.

  The next step in the county movement was to purchase land for a county seat. When efforts to purchase land from Hannibal H. Waterman for a county seat were made, he frankly stated that he wanted the county seat, its affairs and business as far away as possible. Several attempts had been made to jump his claim in efforts to seize it from him, so he was thoroughly disgusted with any county movement.

  A Board of Commissioners to locate a county seat for O'Brien County was appointed on March 29, 1861 by Judge A. W. Hubbard. A site for the county seat was located on August 28, 1861. O'Brien County purchased forty acres of land described as the southwest one-fourth of the northwest one-fourth of Section 36, Township 94, Range 39 west of the fifth P.M. , from H. C. Tiffey for $2,000 for the county seat. This land is three miles west of Peterson and has been the Moding homestead since March 1, 1895.

  Tiffey had acquired the land from the U.S. Government by patent, the document by which the U S. Government gives title to land. The original abstract shows the land was surveyed into forty lots, 219 feet 13 inches east and west and 198 feet north and south. Thirteen lots were designated and laid out for the town of O'Brien, the county seat of O'Brien County. It was the first platted town in O'Brien County. Some of the streets had Civil War names such as Lincoln, Hooker, Sherman and Grant.

  With O'Brien established as the county seat, the log cabin erected on the Waterman place for a courthouse was moved to the new town. But there again it was used for various purposes including that of a schoolhouse in the summer of 1868 and the year 1869. Later when a new brick school house was built, it was used for a blacksmith shop and still later for a stable.

  By 1872, the courthouse occupied three buildings located around the public square; one building serving as an office in the forepart for the county auditor with his residence in the rear.

  In addition, the town of O'Brien had grown to include two general stores, the hotel, a blacksmith shop, a shoe repair shop, a newspaper known as the O'Brien Pioneer, a post office, a banking service with the accounts kept on file in Sioux City, eight residences and a brick schoolhouse.

  Many firsts can be attributed to the town of O'Brien such as the first hotel in O'Brien County, the first postmaster, the first banking service, the first newspaper, the brick schoolhouse and the courthouse. But all of this was not enough to hold the county seat in O'Brien.

  The forty acres of land where the town of O'Brien was located was purchased by Fred Moding who moved with his wife Meta and infant son Carl to this place on March 1, 1895. This has been the Moding homestead and the center of the Old O'Brien neighborhood ever since. Two other sons, Forrest and Winfred, and one daughter, Martha, were born on the place. They grew up on the farm and attended the rural school nearby known as Waterman Township, District No.7. The school was located on the northeast comer of the George Schierholz farm, serving not only to provide education for the young people growing up in the neighborhood, but as a community landmark for years. But it too has been the victim of progress.

  O'BRIEN - Old O'Brien - a place in history that must not be lost to future generations.

Written by: Arthur M. Schierholz, D.C.
July 30, 1987

Note: O'Brien must not be confused with the Waterman place. Hannibal H. Waterman settled two miles to the north-west of O'Brien on land that took on his name -- The Waterman Place. They are two distinctly separate historical sites, each with its own background to be recognized.

  Some of the early towns of O'Brien County have since fallen by the wayside. Erie (1872-1892), one of the first towns in the county, survived until the railroad came into Calumet and most everything was moved there. Other towns that have disappeared are Plessis 1901, Ritter 1900, Old O'Brien 1860-1880, who's buildings and people moved to Sutherland in 1880 after the county seat was moved to Primghar, Germantown 1901, Max 1900, Moneta 1901, and Evander 1900. They are non-existent now, but for maybe an elevator, grain bin or a church.
The following towns are still active:

  Calumet, platted in 1887; Archer, which was named for John H. Archer, owner of the land on which the town was platted in 1888; Gaza, which derives its name from Gaza on the Mediterranean in the Holy Land. The town was originally platted in 1887 as Woodstock but was changed when it was discovered Iowa had another town by that name; Paullina, which was named from the Paullina brothers, early settlers and large landowners there when the town was established. The town was laid out in 1882 by the Western Town Lot Company; Sutherland, which was named for the Duke of Sutherland, some of whose neighbors were settled near there. The town was laid out in 1882 by the Western Town Lot Company; Hartley, which was established in 1878 with the coming of the Milwaukee Railroad and was named after one of the surveyors and engineers involved in building the railroad; Primghar, the county seat, which received its name from the first letters of eight names of those who had a major part in platting the town. Pumphrey, the treasurer, drives the first nail; Roberts, the donor, is quick on his trail; Inman slips slyly his first letter in; McCormack adds M, which made the full Prim; Green, thinking of groceries, gives them the G; Hayes drops then an H, without asking a fee; Albright, the joker, with his jokes all at par; Rerick brings up the rear and crowns all "Primghar".

  In 1872 an election was held to determine if a permanent location for the courthouse should be set up. To get the courthouse out of the hands of the gangs, it was decided that it should be moved to a 40 acre tract in the exact center of the county which later became Primghar. The courthouse from Waterman Township was then moved to Primghar on the north side of the square.

  In 1887, the board decided to build a new courthouse for a total cost of $5,000 which was the highest amount the board was allowed to appropriate at that time. The actual cost was $6,000, so the good people of Primghar signed written agreements to haul the material without cost to the county from the railroad stations at Sanborn or Paullina.

  There were four county seat contests. The first fight was in 1872. A group of homesteaders decided the county seat and records should be taken away from the gangs and they also thought it should be located in the center of the county. This brought about the election of 1872 and it was decided to move it to the center of the county.

  The second contest was between Primghar and Sheldon in 1879. Sheldon filed a petition with the county board and after holding a hearing which lasted three days, the petition was rejected because the results were 386 for Sheldon and 392 for Primghar.

  The third contest occurred on November 23, 1882. This was a raid by Sanborn and was purely physical combat. It began when the railroads of the county were having a passenger rate war and the Sioux City railroad offered a round trip ticket to St. Paul, Minnesota for 25 cents. Every officer in the courthouse except the auditor, together with many other citizens, took advantage of this and left town for St. Paul. Since Primghar had no railroad at this time, they all got on the train in Sanborn. When the citizens of Sanbom saw this it gave them the idea for the raid. The Sanborn people soon got organized and came to Primghar with wagons, crowbars, pulleys and heavy timbers arriving in Primghar about midnight. They battered down the courthouse doors, cut window sills down to the floor and began to load up records. The county treasurer, county recorder and clerks safes were also taken. The auditor's safe was built into the building so it could not be removed. An alarm was sounded by someone sleeping in the jail and all of Primghar was soon aroused. Mr. Peck, the county auditor, was soon on the scene and walked through the courthouse and told the Sanborn people that the records must be returned. Primghar men passed among the teams cutting the harness and wringing nuts off the wagon wheels, thus preventing removal. By 10:00 a.m. the next day, the Primghar citizens were in Sanborn trying to get the courthouse back. It soon became clear to both sides that such an attempt to move the county seat without a vote of the people would end up in the courts. At 1:00 p.m., six Sanborn citizens came to the county board and admitted their mistake and offered to correct it. They agreed to hand over the records and pay all expenses on both sides. The hub of one of the wheels is on display in the courthouse.

  The fourth contest took place on March 3, 1911. Sheldon citizens thought that because Sheldon was the largest town in the county and because they had three railroads and Primghar still did not have any, they should be the county seat. The people of Sheldon circulated a petition. This lasted 90 days. On June 8, 1911, the Board of Supervisors had a hearing and after going over the signatures on the petition, the final vote tally was 3,161 from Primghar and 1,447 for Sheldon, so, Primghar won again.

  On November 3, 1914 a special election was held to vote on building a new courthouse. The cost was $160,000 and it was completed and occupied in April 1917. This is the same court-house that is in in use today except for some remodeling which was done from 1994 through 1996.

  Petitions asking that the question of building a new courthouse be submitted to the voters of the county were circulated during the month of September 1914.

  The spaces between columns is given almost wholly to groups of windows, of sufficient size to provide abundant light. The entrance in the center of the first story is approached by a concrete walk and is but three risers above the grade, flanked on either side by granite buttresses two feet six inches high, and which is a continuation of a granite base course of the same height which extends all around the building. These buttresses are each surmounted by metal candelabra of massive design, which add much to the completeness, as interesting accessories, to the entrance. The entrance itself is of double glass paneled, heavy bronze doors, with side windows, filling a total space of about eighteen feet wide, and above this a balcony trimmed with delicate moldings and supported by ornate brackets.

  All the window and door glass is American plate and the window glass in the vaults is webbed with wire.

  On the ground floor each entrance has a vestibule with double glass panel doors, sidelights and transoms, a hallway eighteen feet wide extending through from the east to the west entrance, and a short cross hall of the same width extending north and south. This story contains offices for the county superintendent, engineer and county attorney, restrooms and toilets for men and women, janitor's work room, storage vault and a fine assembly room.

  The main floor is that containing the offices of the county supervisors, auditor, treasurer, recorder and clerk. The supervisors room is located just above the east entrance and joins the auditor's office, which is in the southeast corner and which is also directly connected to the treasurer's office, which is in the south west corner. Each office on this floor has a public reception room, large working record room, private office and closet and toilet equipment. The clerk's office is provided with a lift to the floor above to convey court records, and is directly connected with the courtroom by a private stairs.

  On the upper floor, the courtroom, library and private offices for the judge and reporter occupy the north end, and the jury rooms are on the south. The sheriff has two rooms in the center on the east side near the courtroom, and a witness room for women is located near the stairs on the south. Toilets for men and women are provided on this floor. There are two petit jury rooms and a dormitory large enough for one jury located in suite with but one door to the suite. Each has a separate toilet and there is a bath for the dormitory.

  The grand jury, in addition to their session chamber, are provided with a witness room and private toilet. There is also a large storage room for the janitor on this floor.

  The basement is entirely under the ground and is to be used only for the boiler and heating and plumbing pipes.

The courtroom will be made the principal feature of rich decoration, with beams, cornices and panels, heavy oak trim and a carefully studied color scheme.

The Finished Courthouse Construction was completed on the new court-house in 1917. It began being used immediately after its completion.

The construction of the building throughout is of strictly fireproof materials; the finished floors in all office rooms are of battleship linoleum, and finally, with fixtures and furniture designed in perfect harmony with the architectural effect of the building itself, the new courthouse, at a total cost of $160,000, should be a credit to O'Brien County.