West Union, Iowa

[Transplanted1]

West Union is a good place for the county seat and all of that political stuff; they can have it.
I guess it would be more convenient to have it in Oelwein, however, so that the majority of the lawbreakers won't have so far to drive (and risk breaking the law during the trip).
Have a great week, don't forget to come to Watermelon Days on Aug 24/Aug 25.

[neanerbean]

. Apparently the people of Oelwein are upset over it, but not enough to do a little research to find out why it is so. [/quote]

No we are not. It is just a little friendly county rivalry. we had the railroad, West union had the court house o Fayette got the School. And West union isn't any futher that fayette (well maybe about 5 mins.) I would never want to live inWEst Union, It has nothing. See what a county seat does to a town.

[wecomeinpeace]

Hi everyone, after noticing the dates on these post not sure if I will get any response. I wanted to ask your opinions on West Union residents are they open minded or very clickish... not welcoming to outsiders, (meaning not born & raised there). We are considering moving there. The reason for this question is after dealing with a local West Union real estast agent, wow she really took the in your face "only if they are from here" attitude to an all new level... I guess it determines what kind of customer service she will offer up. We like a house she had listed in West Union, this particular agent brushed it off and wanted us to check-out a home in another town... What's up with that? We are not weird folks, no crime history... just your everyday rustics. I would welcome all comments... For the record, I can handle the TRUTH... Thank you, have a great day... wcip

[mofford]

This seems like a good thread to propose a way to save taxpayers alot of money. Why do we need so many counties ? As a poster mentioned earlier, they drew the original county lines so people could get to the county seat within a days travel on horse and buggy. Why not combine alot of low populated counties, especially if the court house in one particular county is falling apart and needs rebuilt anyway. For example, Creston sits in the far west end of Union County, why not combine Adams and Union County together and eliminate alot of redundant jobs the taxpayer flips the bill for, and save money on the maintenance for an extra court house that isn't needed anyway. Seems like a good way to bring down taxes in this state that are already high without much sacrifice. There must be at least a dozen counties that could be combined in this way. All they have to do is rename the new county. Noticed that Kossuth County in Northern Iowa is getting along just fine, being twice as big as the other counties around it, having never split to begin with.

[IAPonyGirl]

Sort of what Bull702 said. Back when they were designating the County Seats, they wanted all CS's to be within a days ride by horseback. Surely, you know the Iowans value practicality above all else. :-)

Cheers, Lisa

[mofford]

For a county that is small, sparsely populated and or poor, joining an adjacent county could be very practical in terms having to pay only half for a county attorney, judge, court reporter, treasurer, engineer, court house, ect. This money could be put into the schools, property tax reduction, infrastructure and street repairs, ect. Might catch on so well that 3 or more counties might want to join together provided the county seat could be located near the center of the new super sized county.