Ida County IAGenWeb
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Ida County IAGenWeb |
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The Ida County Historical Structures |
Members have Open House in the structures on Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Tours of the structures are available by appointment throughout the year. |
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Ida County The county government was organized in 1858 with only 38 people in the county. John H. Moorehead came to Ida County in 1856 and built a log cabin on the site, now called the Stagecoach Inn. The first post office in the county was established in that building on July 21, 1857,with John H. Moorehead as the postmaster. |
| The county seat was established there on October 15, 1860, and John H. Moorehead was named the first Ida County Judge. It became the first church, first school, first hospital, first post office (called: IDA), first courthouse, and community meeting place. The Stagecoach Inn is on the National Register of Historic Places. As the 2 stagecoaches stopped each day at noon (one from the east and one from the west), rooms were added to the log cabin as it became a place to stay overnight and a place to have meals. The stagecoaches needed fresh horses and they were kept in the stable barn. This setting was seen by thousands of travelers as they came in their covered wagons and prairie schooners, without a tree or house in site for at least 30 miles; and in the warm weather, the tall blue stem grass was waving in the breeze and wildflowers were blooming everywhere. The grass was so tall that it could be tied in a knot over the back of the horses. | |
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The Moorehead House The Moorehead House in Ida Grove was built by a plasterer in 1883 & consisted of three rooms on both the first and second floors. The architecture is termed "Vernacular Italianate." Giles Moorehead, the son of Judge John H. Moorhead, purchased the house and used it as his residence. |
Country School The 1884 country schoolhouse was donated to the historical society and is in place at Moorehead Park, at west edge of Ida Grove. Old fashioned country school days are held there each year in September and 4th graders in schools from surrounding areas attend to experience how country |
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| schools educated all people in the rural
areas. The log cabin is in place near the country school. Ida County Country School |
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