# History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/3/Counties/Worth

​ WORTH COUNTY was created in 1851 and named for General William J. Worth who was prominent officer in the Mexican War. It lies on the Minnesota line in the fifth tier west of the Mississippi and contains an area of four hundred two square miles. Tributaries of the Shellrock River and Lime Creek flow through the county in a southerly direction and in the northwest portion are Silver Lake, Rice Lake and Bright’s Lake, all small sheets of water. There were originally about 10,000 acres of native woodland along the Shellrock and in groves scattered over the county.
The first settlements were made by Gulbrand Olsen and Norwegian companions in June, 1853. They made claims on the Shellrock near where Northwood stands where water power was found. In the spring of 1854 Simon Rustad, Chris. Amandsen, Ole Lee and three brothers ​named Hart settled in a grove on the Shellrock near the State line. In 1855 D. H. Phelps, Tilly McWithy and Hiram Bilton with two sons made claims in the same vicinity. In May, 1855, Charles Johnson took a claim at Rice Lake in the vicinity of Bristol. During that season many families settled in that part of the county and at Silver Lake, on Elk Creek, at Wright’s Grove and Glen Mary.
The town of Northwood was laid out in November, 1857, by Charles Wardell and the next year Lemuel Dwelle and Joel Dayton platted additions to it. The first store was opened in September by B. H. Beckett in the first frame building which was erected by S. H. Franklin. Goods were transported from McGregor by wagon, a distance of one hundred thirty miles. A post-office was established in 1857, of which Dr. S. H. Franklin was postmaster. In the summer of 1858 Charles Wardell built a dam across the Shellrock River and erected a sawmill. The town of Bristol was platted in the spring of 1857 by Chancy S. Lane and J. S. Loveland, in the western part of the county. Dr. James Keeler had settled on the site of the town in 1856 and the largest settlement in the county had grown up in that vicinity. A store was opened in Bristol in 1857 and a post-office was established the same year with Dr. James Keeler postmaster.
The county was organized in October, 1857, and the following officers were chosen: Dr. James Keeler, judge; C. S. Lane, treasurer and recorder; B. K. Walker, clerk; Lorin Turnure, sheriff; and Amos Bentley, prosecuting attorney. Bristol and Northwood were from the first rivals for the county-seat and the commissioners appointed to select a location gave it to Bristol. The citizens of that town realized the dangers of ultimate removal, as their town was near the west line of the county. To remove this peril they petitioned the Legislature for the purpose of securing a change in the county boundaries by adding a portion of the territory of the east side of Worth to Mitchell and annexing a part of Winnebago on the west. ​In this they were not successful and in 1863 the county-seat was removed to Northwood by a vote of one hundred fifteen to forty. No court-house had been built at Bristol and the first term of court was held in a log cabin by Judge John Porter in September, 1859. On the 24th of October, 1869, the first newspaper, called the Northwood Pioneer, was issued by P. D. Swick. The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railroad runs through the county from south to north and the Milwaukee runs through the southeast corner.