By Ashley Rullestad

 

Montezuma was officially laid out and named the county seat of the newly established Poweshiek County in 1848. Author LeRoy G. Pratt, in his book “The Counties and Courthouses of Iowa,” states, “The commissioners ordered that Richard B. Ogden be appointed to negotiate a loan to the amount of twenty dollars on the best terms that can be procured, and the faith of Poweshiek County is hereby pledged for the payment of same, with interest.”

 

Another loan for $200 was used to purchase land for the new town of Montezuma — so named for the Aztec emperor of Mexico (1502-1520). It was there that the first courthouse was built on the northeast corner of the square, but the county seat was not incorporated until 1868. This year marks Montezuma’s 150th anniversary.

 

According to “The History of Poweshiek County Iowa 1880,” transcribed and contributed by Barbara Ziegenmeyer, the first settlement in the new town was a plat by Gideon Wilson. In 1849, Wilson erected a double log house in the northwest corner of the courthouse square. In one room of his house, he soon opened a general merchandise store, the first store in the county.

 

Ziegenmeyer reports there were several attempts to move the county seat from Montezuma to either Malcolm or Grinnell in those early days. Some thought the county officers were located too far south. However, after two railroads were built through Montezuma and the potential for a third, it remained where it was.

 

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