History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/3/Counties/Polk
POLK COUNTY was established from the territory of the original county of Keokuk in January, 1846, and named for President James K. Polk. When first created it embraced a part of Jasper and Dallas but in 1853 the boundaries were fixed as they now are. It lies in the sixth tier east of the Missouri River and in the fourth north of Missouri. The Des Moines River flows through it from north to south and the Raccoon entering from the west unites with the Des Moines.
An account of its earliest settlements and the establishment of Fort Des Moines will be found elsewhere. Thomas Mitchell settled at Apple Grove in April, 1844, and in 1845 John Saylor located in a grove on the east side of the Des Moines River about six miles north of the fort. In 1846 Eli Trullinger settled in Franklin township at a grove which bears his name. Walker Corey and John Fisher with their families located in Elkhart township in 1846 near Corey’s Grove; Riley Thornton settled in Delaware township, the same year, on Little Four Mile Creek and George Bebee located in Madison township. James N. Stewart settled in Camp and James Smith in Douglass township in 1847. Dr. T. K. Brooks, in 1845, bought a claim on the east side of the Des Moines River and was the first postmaster of Fort Des Moines. A town was laid out on the east side and named Brooklyn which aspired to become the county-seat but failing disappeared from the map. James C. Jordon took a claim several miles west of the fort in 1846 on a creek which flows into the Raccoon River.
The first election in the county was held April 2, 1846, at which the following officers were chosen: John Saylor, probate judge; W. T. Ayres, treasurer; Thomas Mitchell, sheriff; Thomas McMullen, recorder; Benjamin Saylor, W. H. Meacham and E. W. Fouts, commissioners. On the 25th of May of the same year the county-seat was established at Fort Des Moines and the first term of court was held that spring by Judge Joseph Williams, one of the log houses of the garrison serving as a court-house.
The town of Fort Des Moines was platted by A. D. Jones, county surveyor, in July, 1846. In July, 1849, Barlow Granger established the first newspaper in the county which was a weekly named the Iowa Star. In 1847 Miss Davis opened a school in one of the government buildings, room No. 26. The Capital of the State was located at Des Moines in 1857 and the first railroad, the Des Moines Valley, reached the city on the 29th of August, 1866. This road was built up the Des Moines valley from Keokuk. The Rock Island Railroad reached the Capital a year later.