About Us

Geography

Carroll County has a total area of 466.36 square miles, of which 444.81 square miles (or 95.38%) is land and 21.55 square miles (or 4.62%) is water. Mississippi Palisades State Park is located just north of Savanna. Additionally, the Savanna Army Depot is located partly in Carroll County.

The Colorful History of Carroll County

Carroll County was organized in 1839 and named for Charles Carroll, a wealthy landowner and politician from Maryland. He was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and, incidentally, the last of the signers to die. The honor of naming the county was bestowed upon Isaac Chambers, the first settler in Carroll County. Since Carroll was one of the political heroes of the day and since many of the settlers were originally from Maryland, Chambers decided to name the county after him.

Savanna was the largest community in the county, and the residents there wanted very much to have the county seat in their town. During the 1800s, it was quite an honor for a town to be voted county seat. In 1839, a vote was taken, and Savanna won by 41 votes. Another vote was taken in 1843, after which Mt. Carroll became the county seat.

Carroll County Waterways

In the 1830s, settlers from the East and Canada arrived in the Midwest to claim government land grants. With lumber needed in large quantities, the most efficient means of transporting timber was by water. The Mississippi River and its tributaries played a significant role. Over the next 80 years, the river floated timber downstream to the mills for processing. White pine logs would float from winter through summer. The growth of the Great Plains states was possible largely because of the Mississippi and its tributaries.

The First Water-Powered Mill in the Nation

Many Midwestern cities and towns had their earliest beginnings along the banks of a creek or river where early settlers would have easy access to water. Carroll County’s village of Milledgeville was no exception. An enterprising millwright named Peters saw the possibilities and settled on the Elkhorn Creek bottom in 1834. Falling sick, Peters gave up his claim to Jesse Kester, who improved the property by building a sawmill. It was from this mill — and the settlement that grew at the edge of it — that “Mill-edge-ville” soon derived its name.

Kester’s sawmill was said to be the first in the country to be powered by water. The mill quickly grew into a large business, and people for miles around brought their logs, by ox team or horse-drawn wagon, to be sawed into lumber for their homes. The logs were cut from the groves of trees that stood in the area.

Kester subsequently sold out his claim to Adam Knox, who added a grist mill. Settlers hauled their grain to the mill to be ground into flour, took home what they needed, and left the rest at the mill to be sold. This new mill soon became the nucleus of the settlement of Milledgeville. People came to trade and get their mail, which was brought by stagecoach.

The mill had several owners over the years. During the boom years of the 1880s, an addition was built onto it. With the installation of mill rollers, an 1885 issue of the Milledgeville Free Press described the mill as having “the latest in equipment for making flour.” In its day, this mill was said to be one of the best-equipped mills in Carroll County.

Eventually, area farmers diminished their wheat production. When there was no longer any need for a flour mill, the old mill finally closed in 1901. Within five years, the mill was dismantled, and sections of the original building were moved to various village locations to create structures for new businesses or portions of private residences.

The Marcus Train Robbery

On Aug. 5, 1902, the Marcus Train Robbery occurred in Carroll County. That evening, three men wait for a train on the Burlington Line. About four miles north of Savanna, a man with a red lantern flagged down the train. When the conductor noticed the switch was partly open, he realized the train was about to be robbed.

The three masked men guarded the engineer and fireman, then uncoupled the express car and engine. Continuing up the track, they blew open the safe with nitroglycerine and rifled the contents. One of the men was accidentally shot by one of his companions. They uncoupled the engine from the express car and attempted an escape with their wounded companion. Believing the injured man to be mortally wounded, they killed him and threw his body from the engine. At Apple River Bridge, they abandoned the engine, allowing it to run until it stopped beyond Hanover. The men escaped in a skiff at Apple River and headed for Iowa, where they hid the loot and went on.

However, the dead thief was quickly identified. This led the authorities to apprehend the two others involved; once captured, they confessed. While in the Carroll County jail, the prisoners made several desperate attempts to escape, but the vigilance of Sheriff D.B. Doty thwarted their efforts. They were convicted of highway robbery with deadly weapons and sentenced to the state penitentiary for life.