Neighbors were few on the prairies of O’Brien County in 1872. One small village named O’Brien dotted the map in the extreme southeast corner of the county’s 576 square miles. Settlement that had begun in that locale was slowly beginning to fan out to the north and west but life was not easy; travel could be difficult and supplies were distant. Amenities were almost non-existant. The arrival of the Sioux City-St.Paul railroad that summer was about to change everything. Though the event was far removed from the village of O’Brien, the local O’brien Pioneer paper reported that the construction train had reached Sibley on Saturday, June first. Track laying continued south as the road snaked its way along O’Brien County’s western edge, reaching the surveyed townsite of Sheldon on a cold, blustery July 3rd. A very simple fourth of July celebration had been planned for weeks and was held in spite of the disagreeable weather; people were just plain jubilant to have a railroad! Businesses and people soon followed, greatly expanding settlement into the western portions of the county. According to a report in the Pioneer, Floyd Township in the NW corner had but one settler in 1871; twelve months later in August of ‘72, sixty dwellings were counted.
Meanwhile, back in O’Brien village, businessmen and county officials faced the stark reality of a poor location and no railroad; a county seat would not survive long in that situation, especially as other portions of the county “settled up”. Conversations occurred and rumors about moving the county seat began flitting about. By mid-summer, petitions were circulating; one document spotted in the hands of Charles Albright had garnered 150 signatures and called for the removal of the government apparatus to the exact geographical center creating a new town named Merrill.
Confidence in the success of the campaign to move must have prevailed among the agitators as the next problem became what to call the new town. (Merrill must have been unsatisfactory). The exact selection process remains obscure but according to notes written years later by local historian J.L.E. Peck, the interested parties in desperation, finally secluded themselves in a local O’Brien business and remained until the wee hours when a solution was agreed upon.
The O’Brien Pioneer of September 6, 1872 boldly announced the new name to the world—PRIMGHAR! The article contained a report on the accomplishments of the survey crew directed by B.F. McCormack. Comprised of supervisors and O’Brien business men, the “crew” met land owner James Roberts at the exact county center on a beautiful Tuesday morning, September 3rd. Following a picnic lunch, a lovely site was selected and the thirty acre perimeter was cheerfully measured and marked. Later that month, the petition to move was presented to the Board of Supervisors by lawyer D.C. Hayes. It was signed by over half the voters in the county and would appear on the ballot in the general election that November. About the same time, the “Primghar Poem” appeared in the Cherokee paper. The unsigned jingle (composed by B.F. McCormack) explained the “romantic mystery” behind the unusual name.
Public reaction to the coined moniker was not favorable in all quarters; one area paper called it “outlandish” while another deemed it too “heavy”.The town founders were not deterred however, as McCormack and crew completed the interior survery, laying out blocks and lots on October 2nd. Following voter approval of the move that November, D.C. Hayes finished the deed, record and town plat; Primghar was official.
Criticism of the name continued, however, even after construction of buildings began in the spring of 1873. One story listed all the ways Primghar was misspelled—Pringbar, Peringar, Pymghar, Pringar, Premgaars, etc. A report in the Clay County News that April listed what was being erected at the new county seat and concluded by saying “IF it survives that horrible name we will conclude that the day of miracles has Pnot yet passed.” One hundred fifty years later, the “miracle” remains on the map; to the “only Primghar in the world”—happy birthday!
Fay Schall, O’Brien County Historical Society