Carver County was formed in 1855. The first county seat was located in San Francisco Village in San Francisco Township. After just one short year, flooding and distance caused a vote to move the location of the county seat. It was moved to Chaska, where is has been ever since. Over the years, though, there have been very intense battles trying to remove the seat to a more central location. What follows are the details of these battles as gleaned from newspaper accounts of the time.
Over the years, there was talk and debate in 1870, 1872, 1880 and most intensely in 1920 about removal of the county seat from Chaska to either Benton or Waconia. During the winter of 1870, a select committee of Carver County residents took a resolution to the state Legislature to introduce plans to allow county residents to vote on where the county seat would be located- Chaska, Waconia or Benton. When nothing came of this, Waconia residents teamed with Benton to have the seat moved there in 1872. In responses in the Chaska paper, it was asked if taxpayers could afford the debt of a new building. That attempt, too, was dropped. The 1880 attempt to move the seat to Waconia never got past the discussion stage, and was mentioned in only one issue of one paper.
This brings us to the most elaborate and intense attempts at removal, which occurred between April and June of 1920. In this case, the removal battle was between the cities of Waconia and Chaska. This battle involved many back-and-forth arguments, accusations, ridicule and mudslinging. The Waconia County Seat Removal Committee argued that the county seat should be centrally located, as it was unfair to make people in the northern and western parts of the county travel 20-30 miles to Chaska when other cities only had to travel six miles. A later article presented three arguments: economy, convenience, and cost.
For economy, it was argued the county would pay out less in mileage and fees to those making the trip to be jurors, etc. For convenience, they argued “At present, the people in the north and west end of the county who pay the same rate of county tax, fulfill the same obligations to serve on juries and attend court and have business before the commissioners and in probate court the same as do citizens of the east end of the county, are required to travel 20-30 miles across the county [. . .] It is a matter of justice that all the people of the county should have equal opportunity to share in its facilities and participate in the activities of government.” The third argument was that the cost of new buildings to replace the dilapidated ones in Chaska would be minimal. A petition was signed by 2,471 people, what they said was 83% of people outside Chaska, calling for a public vote.
Chaska’s Civic Committee responded with arguments questioning how the committee got signatures on the petition, touting the small number of signers (2,471 out of 4,000), and saying the proposed building costs were laughable, and telling the “intelligent, thrifty, and progressive” taxpayers not to be fooled. Arguments then turned into accusations back and forth, using sensational language like “ludicrous”, “the fight is on”, “real arguments only will count”, arguments “seem plausible on the surface but underneath are only an empty shell”, ideas were “ludicrous in the extreme”, and “Chaska fires opening gun. . .deadly missile was filled with hot air.”
The public vote was held June 18, 1920, and resulted in Chaska’s favor. With the largest vote in the history of the county up to that time, Waconia received 1,989 votes to Chaska’s 2,372. A massive victory celebration was held in Chaska.
In 1951, prominent brickyard and bank owner Charles Klein passed away, leaving a bequest of $500,000 for a new courthouse, on the condition that it be built in Chaska. In 1962, a bond for $850,000 was brought to vote in the county, to supplement Klein’s fund. The bond passed and a new courthouse was constructed in Chaska to replace the small, outdated, historic courthouse. One paper claimed, “it’s conceivable [Klein’s] bequest stopped another county seat struggle from materializing.” Klein was active in town in the 1920’s, and was most likely familiar with the feud. Whether or not those were his true reasons for the bequest, or just to support his town, history may never no. There were no more county seat battles after that time, however. The county seat was, and remains, in the city of Chaska.
“Carver County, The Way it Was . . .Removing the County Seat to Chaska.” Waconia Patriot, February 12, 1976.
“Carver County Will have Red-Hot County Seat Fight.” Waconia Patriot, April 15, 1920.
“Chaska Fires Opening Gun. . .Deadly Missile was Filled with Hot Air.” Young America Eagle, April 30, 1920.
“Chaska Victory in County Seat Fight . . .Largest Vote in History of County.” Weekly Valley Herald, June 24, 1920.
“Cost of Removal Will Not Be Burdensome.” Waconia Patriot, April 15, 1920.
“County Commissioners Announce Courthouse Steering Committee.” Weekly Valley Herald, October 4, 1962.
“County Seat of Carver County Should Be Centrally Located.” Waconia Patriot, April 8, 1920.
“County Seat Question.” Weekly Valley Herald, October 17, 1872.
“County Seat Question.” Weekly Valley Herald, March 4, 1880.
“County Seat Removal.” Weekly Valley Herald, October 3, 1872.
“County Seat- Resolution.” Weekly Valley Herald, February 3, 1870.
“Courthouse Site Selected.” Weekly Valley Herald, January 10, 1963.
“Issue Passes in Record Vote.” Weekly Valley Herald, November 8, 1962.
“Petition Filed- The Fight is On. Tell The Truth- Don’t Garble.” Young America Eagle, May 14, 1920.
“Real Arguments Only, Will Count.” Weekly Valley Herald, April 22, 1920.
“Removal of the County Seat.” Weekly Valley Herald, January 25, 1872.
“Waconia Is Readily Accessible from All Parts of Carver County.” Waconia Patriot, May 13, 1920.
“What Others Say About County Seat Question.” Waconia Patriot, June 30, 1920.
“Why the Courthouse Should Be Moved.” Young America Eagle, June 18, 1920.
Secondary:
“60 Times $500,000 Equals What–?” Waconia Patriot, May 13, 1920.
“Additional Facts on Building Costs.” Young America Eagle, April 23, 1920.
“An Amusing Proposition.” Young America Eagle, April 30, 1920.
“A Real Hot Time in the Old Town” Weekly Valley Herald, June 24, 1920.
“Beware of Misleading Last Minute Rumors.” Weekly Valley Herald, June 17, 1920.
“Carver County’s Courthouse.” Weekly Valley Herald, June 3, 1920.
“Carver County Seat Removal Petition.” Young America Eagle, May 7, 1920.
“Grand Jury Members Say Chaska Doesn’t Tell The Truth.” Young America Eagle, May 7, 1920.
“That County Seat Question.” Weekly Valley Herald, April 15, 1920.
“The County Seat Question.” Waconia Patriot, April 1, 1920.
“The Victory Celebration.” Weekly Valley Herald, June 24, 1920.
“This is Our Chance!” Young America Eagle, June 11, 1920.
“Waconia Makes Bid for County Seat.” Weekly Valley Herald, April 8, 1920.
