Mahaska County

Mahaska County was formed on February 17, 1843. The county has been self-governing since February 5, 1844. The county seat is Oskaloosa  It was named after Chief Mahaska of the Iowa tribe. The county was the first in Iowa to have a sheriff and a justice of peace.

The first courthouse was completed in January, 1846. The second structure was put into use on February 27, 1886. The first school, a small log cabin one-half mile (ca. 2 km) east of Oskaloosa, was opened on September 16, 1844 and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church opened as the first church in 1846.

On July 2, 1850, the first edition of the Iowa Herald was issued (today the Oskaloosa Herald). In 1864, the first tracks were laid through the county of the Des Moines Valley Railroad. Coal mining was once a major industry in Mahaska County. In the 19th century, Muchakinock, about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Oskaloosa, was probably the largest and most prosperous coal camp in Iowa.

- Photo by Bob Kelly

Chief Mahaska - Photo by Bob Kelly

Sculptor Sherry Edmundson Fry's earliest public commission was a bronze statue of Mahaska. Recently restored, it still stands on its pedestal in the courthouse square ofOskaloosa, which is the governmental seat of Mahaska County, Iowa, in the southeastern section of the state. At the right of the base is the artist's signature "S.E. Fry, 1907".

When he accepted the Mahaska commission in 1906, Fry was living in Paris. He returned to Iowa the following summer to make preparatory drawings of Meskwaki at the nearby Settlement at Tama, Iowa, and to collect Indian artifacts and other reference materials. Returning to Paris, he began on a clay scale model, which he first showed at the Paris Salon in 1907. A year later, he exhibited the final full-sized sculpture, for which he was awarded the Prix de Rome. Soon after, it was shipped to the U.S., and arrived in Oskaloosa by railroad. The formal dedication of the statue, which was attended by "a crowd of 12,000 rain-soaked spectators", was held on May 12, 1909

- Photo by Bob Kelly

Photo by Curt L. Sytsma

Photo by Curt L. Sytsma

Photo by Curt L. Sytsma

Photo by Curt L. Sytsma

Photo by Curt L. Sytsma