Scott County is celebrating an important birthday - its own. This morning, supervisors took time out from their meeting to serve cake and unveil the county's birthday poster.
Supervisor Larry Minard says the county was created 175 years ago, on December 19, 1837 by the Wisconsin legislature. The bill was signed by the governor of Wisconsin two weeks later, so the official birthday is considered to be December 30th. Minard says Scott County did not become part of Iowa until it became a territory and separated from Wisconsin about six months later, in 1838.
Since the beginning of the year, he's studied the county's history, and brought information to each board of supervisors meeting, on topics such as Indian treaties, George Davenport, local geology, and the man it's named for, General Winfield Scott.
"Scott County history in unique in Iowa in many ways. It's amusing and there's a lot of fun and interesting stuff. It's like rummaging through your grandmother's attic - you just never know what you might find."
The birthday poster is made up of 12 pictures submitted by local residents, superimposed over an outline of the county.