The second incarnation of the county courthouse, built in 1878.
Moorhead, Minnesota has the distinction of being the county seat of Clay County, and therefore has a county courthouse as well. The evolution of the current courthouse, built in 1954 for the cost of $704,000, on the corner of 11th Street and 8th Avenue North began with three other incarnations of the building. The first building, built in 1872, was built on 5th Street and 1st Avenue North. The site today can be
spotted at the Moorhead Center Mall, where a fountain sits on the site. The building was sold in 1878. The second county courthouse building was on the corner of 8th Street and 1st Avenue North and built for around $2100. It was built in 1878 and was torn down by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930’s. The third incarnation of the courthouse was built on the eastern half of the land the present building sits on in 1882, on 11th Street and 8th Avenue North. It cost $50,000 to construct. One of Moorhead’s earliest residents, John Bergquist, owned a brickyard and manufactured bricks for one of the earlier courthouses.
Moorhead was not always the county seat of Clay County and the story of its designation is full of shady dealings and fraud. The nearby town of Glyndon, about 10 miles east of Moorhead, tried to become the county seat numerous times, but each time failed. Compared to the wild town of Moorhead, Glyndon was initially set up to be a temperance colony, purchased from the Northern Pacific Railway. While both towns were built because of the railroad, Glyndon was attractive to the surrounding famers who saw no need to support the shipping town of Moorhead. The rivalry between the two cities was established. The first attempt to move the county seat from Moorhead to Glyndon came in 1872, followed by another in 1874. Land was offered to the NPR by both Glyndon and
The third Clay County courthouse, built with bricks from John Bergquist’s brickyard in 1882.
Moorhead, with Moorhead again coming out victorious. The land in Glyndon would later have a two story jail built on it. The Glyndonites were angered in 1878 when the Clay County Advocate failed to mention the opportunity to place bids for the new courthouse. They saw it as an underhanded even to keep the county seat in Moorhead, leading them to act. The following years saw petitions raised on both sides, with some confusion in the actual numbers of signatures, before the Moorheadites eventually won out, keeping the county seat in Moorhead, once and for all.
Sources:
(I) “History of Clay County.” 2010. Accessed October 15, 2016. http://claycountymn.gov/260/History-of-Clay-County
(II)Peihl, Mark. “County Seat Fight a Bitter Battle.” Clay County Historical Society Newsletter, 2001.
Photo Credits:
(III) A Century Together: A History of Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota. Fargo, North Dakota: The Fargo-Moorhead Centennial Cooperation, 1975. 160.
(VI) A Century Together: A History of Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota. Fargo, North Dakota: The Fargo-Moorhead Centennial Cooperation, 1975. 161.
