Larrabee County was a proposed county to be formed out of the northern part of

Kossuth County, Iowa Kossuth County () is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 14,828. The county seat is Algona, Iowa, Algona. History Kossuth County was founded on Januar ...

, United States. The county was to be named after governor William Larrabee. Bancroft County had existed in the area for several years in the 1850s, but was disestablished. An attempt to recreate the county out of roughly the same area had taken place in the early 1870s with Crocker County, but its establishment was ruled to be unconstitutional due to being too small in area. In November 1914, a referendum was held in Kossuth County in order to propose the existence of Larrabee County, and voters rejected the county's creation. As such, Kossuth County remained the largest county in Iowa.

Background

Map_of_Iowa_highlighting_Bancroft_County

When Iowa became a state in 1846, it had 48 counties. On January 15, 1851, the third

Iowa General Assembly The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Repre ...

added 52 more. This now made Iowa a state of 100 counties, including Bancroft County. In 1855, Bancroft County was disestablished because it was not suitable for settling due to its

marshes In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...

and

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

, making Iowa a state of 99 counties. Its land was merged with Kossuth County, resulting in Kossuth becoming the largest county in Iowa. On May 13, 1870, after post-

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

migration to the area, Bancroft County was re-established with the name Crocker County. However, the

Iowa Supreme Court The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a chief justice and six associate justices. The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 ...

ruled in the case L.K. Garfield vs R.I. Brayton that Crocker County was in violation of the Iowa constitution, which declares in Article 11 that "no new county shall be created which contains less than 432 square miles." After Crocker County was disestablished in 1871, its land was merged back into Kossuth County.

Proposal

On February 22, 1913, the creation of Larrabee County was proposed by James McHose, an Iowa congressman from

Boone, Iowa Boone ( ) is a city in Des Moines Township, Boone County, Iowa, Des Moines Township, and county seat of Boone County, Iowa, United States. It is the principal city of the Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Boone ...

. The name "Larrabee" would honor governor William Larrabee. However, the residents of northern Kossuth County sent a delegation to

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

opposing the proposal. In November 1914, a referendum was held in Kossuth County to determine whether Larrabee County should be established. The proposal received 920 votes compared to the opposition's 3,599 votes; therefore, Larrabee County was not established, causing Iowa to remain a state of 99 counties.

References

Works cited

* * * * * * {{Coord, 43.37, -94.25, display=title Proposed counties of the United States History of Iowa Geography of Iowa 1913 in Iowa 1914 in Iowa