Editing Carroll, Iowa (section)

== History ==
Carroll was laid out in 1867.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bH8HtIwXzdcC | title=History of Western Iowa, Its Settlement and Growth | publisher=Western Publishing Company | year=1882 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bH8HtIwXzdcC/page/n502 503]}}</ref>  It took its name from Carroll County, which was named in honor of [[Charles Carroll of Carrollton]], [[Maryland]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Chicago and North Western Railway Company|title=A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA52|year=1908|page=52}}</ref> He was the only [[Roman Catholic]] to sign the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].

In 1869, the centrally located railroad town of Carroll City was selected as the county seat, replacing, with some protest, Carrollton. Later a $4,000 courthouse was constructed on the town square. This building was used until it burned to the ground in 1886. The vaults and records were undamaged, however, and moved to temporary housing in the Joyce Building and Drees' Music Hall.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

The following winter a $40,000 bond issue was approved toward the construction of a new, permanent courthouse. The stone-and-brick building was built on the northwest corner of the square (the parking lot of the current courthouse). The courthouse, complete with a clock-tower, was used for more than three-quarters of a century, then replaced by a modern-looking building in 1965.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

A $750,000 bond issue was used to construct and equip the new courthouse. This building was officially dedicated on September 24, 1966. The highlight of the dedication ceremony was the opening of the boxes sealed in the cornerstone of the old courthouse. The bell from the previous courthouse clock tower sits on the courthouse grounds.<ref>Marie Hackett, Curator of the Carroll County Historical Museum, 1991</ref>

The town was the site of the [[1960 Minneapolis Lakers cornfield landing]]. A [[Douglas DC-3]] carrying the coach and players of the [[Minneapolis Lakers]], made an emergency landing in a cornfield during a snowstorm after having got lost due to an electrical malfunction and poor weather.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McCrea |first=Andrew |date=November 27, 2024 |title=How an Iowa Corn Field Saved the Los Angeles Lakers |url=https://www.agweb.com/news/crops/corn/how-iowa-corn-field-saved-los-angeles-lakers |work=Ag Web {{!}} Farm Journal}}</ref>