Crawfordsville
was the located on the banks of Lightning Creek, two miles
west and 1/2 mile north of present day Girard and was named
after Governor Samuel J. Crawford. The first county election
was on April 15, 1867, just 2 months after Crawford County
was founded and Crawfordsville was established as the county
seat. The town grew impressively at first, boasting a postoffice,
blacksmith shop, schoolhouse and a few cabins. Soon a courthouse
was erected. But by the fall of 1867, there became a power
struggle between Crawfordsville and the newly organized
Girard Town Company, who thought Girard was more suited
to be the county seat because of its central location and
it being a stop for the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf
Railroad. An election was held on Nov. 5, 1867 and Girard
was declared the winner, thus being designated as the county
seat. But the election was declared a fraud, because a
petition hadn't been collected by the people of the county
calling for an election to settle the matter. A petition
with the signatures of 577 county residents was presented
to the district court of Dr. D. W. Crouse on Nov 7, 1868.
An official vote was taken on Dec 15, 1868, and with 375
votes, Girard won the contest to become the new count seat.
Crawfordsville garnered 312 votes. The county records were
transported to Girard. There isn't anything left of Crawfordsville
today. |
