COUNTY SEAT.

In June 1853, the county seat was located by commissioners appointed for that purpose, at what is now Nevada, and the first settlement in that embryo city was made in October of that year by T. E. Alderman—the next settler being J. H. McLain, Esq., now, and for some years, a citizen and active business man in our own town of Ames. In 1856, the first Court House in the county was erected. In December 1863, this structure was burned, entailing a heavy loss upon the county in addition to the value of the building. In 1864, the present court house was built, and during the summer of 1870 a Jail, at an expense for the latter structure of some six thousand dollars. The court house though small, in comparison with some others in the Judicial District, is convenient and will answer the requirements of the county for some years to come. The new jail is a brick edifice of tasteful proportions, and is said to be much easier of access than of egress.

PRESS OF STORY COUNTY.

The Press of Story County is perhaps deserving of historic record. The first newspaper was established in the spring of 1850 by R. R. Thrall, who continued its publication until sometime in 1863. It was called “The Story County Advocate.” In 1863 it passed into the hands, and under the editorial management of Geo. F. Schoonover, who being of military proclivities, if not experience, re-christened his new responsbility—calling it the “Reveille.” Shortly after, the paper again changed hands coming under the control of J. M. Brainard, who run the “Machine,” mongrel in politics, until November 1868, when it was purchased by V. A. Ballou, who being of small stature, and peaceful nature again changed its name, calling it “The Ægis,” and sitting behind its ample protection—made it pay. In the summer of 1870 he sold to the present proprietor W. H. Gallup, Esq., who again re-christened the many named bantling, as the “Representative.” A paper having endured, and safely passed the pains and dangers attending a half dozen births and deaths, surely merits immortality.

In 1863 the “Nevada Democrat” was started under the editorial charge of E. B. Potter, Esq. During a precarious existence of two years it struggled hard for life. It is the only instance within our knowledge, that our boasted climate has not produced a healthful influence on a sick patient. But this thing came of a political parentage, as its name indicates, in which rottenness constantly reproduces itself, and death leaves no hope of resurrection. It passed from life in 1865.

In May, 1869, A. McFadden, formerly of Morrison, Illinois, commenced the publication of a weekly journal at our town of Ames, styled The Ames Intelligencer. In spite of the bitter opposition of the “organ” at the county seat, it may now be pronounced an established success. It is still owned and conducted by its founder, and will receive a more extended notice in another portion of this work. The foregoing comprises a full list of newspapers published in Story County since its organization.

FRUIT.

Iowa is destined to take front rank among the fruit growing states of our country. The impression which had formerly been quite generally entertained, that fruit could not be profitably cultivated in prairie countries, has been corrected by the tests of experience. Illinois is already celebrated as one of the best fruit growing districts in the west, and Iowa, with like soil and nearly same climate, has the advantage of a more rolling and perfectly drained surface. In no country on the globe are finer or more perfect apples grown than Iowa produces. We have no statistics at hand, indicating the amount or value of the apple crop of last year, but the census report of 1869 gives the aggregate crop of that year at 660,000 bushels, and this while only about one-fifth of the nearly 6,000,000 trees reported were in bearing. Plums, cherries, currants, grapes, sweet potatoes, and all the small fruits, and berries grow luxuriantly, and mature in great perfection. Wild plums, grapes, and berries grow in all parts of the state in great abundance. In all these productions of fruit, Story county is not excelled by any other county in the state, as experience is yearly demonstrating. The show of fruit at our fairs, is already a marked feature of those exhibitions, and it is past doubt that nothing is needed, but judicious selection of varieties, and careful cultivation, to make Iowa independent of other states for her supply of fruit, and also to give her a place among those states which must supply less favored districts of our country.