On January 15, 1851, Governor Stephen Hempstead approved an act of the Iowa legislature creating 50 new counties from unorganized territory in the western part of the state, including a new county called Winnebago. Winnebago County was officially organized in 1857 with the election of officers. It comprises 12 townships and has a land area of 408 square miles, about 261,000 acres. The county was named for the Winnebago Indian Tribe, who inhabited the area in the 1800s. In 1853 white men came to hunt and trap, and in 1855 Thomas Bearse became the first settler, living on Lime Creek about 3/4 mile east of this spot. The population in 1860 was 168. The courthouse was built in 1861, remodeled in 1877, torn down in 1896, and replaced by the present brick main structure in January 1897 at a cost of $20,496; the south wing was added later. The county population was 11,723 in 2000. Winnebago County celebrated its sesquicentennial, or 150th birthday, in 2005. Iowa gained statehood on 28 Dec, 1848, and was named after the Ioway Indian Tribe.