History

John Heery of Milton, Wisconsin walked to the Shell Rock Valley, then back to Dubuque, and on November 22, 1850, filed a claim, part of which is now Heery Wood State Park. He thus became the first landowner but was not among the first settlers, because he did not return with his family until the spring of 1852.

The first settler in the Clarksville area was Joseph Hicks, who came from Rock County, Wisconsin in December 1850 and built a cabin on the north side of what is now Sportsman's Park. Robert T. Crowell helped the Hicks family move but returned to Wisconsin. He returned in 1852 and settled on a farm northeast of town. Mr. Hicks' father Henry, who was a blacksmith, came the following spring and filed a claim for 120 acres near his son. That area at the time was called "Coon's Grove".

The construction of the Courthouse was started in 1856 and finished in 1856 at a cost of $18,000. In 1860, after considerable conflict, the County Seat was moved to Butler Center. Ten years later in 1870, the local school district bought the vacant building for $2,800 and turned it into a schoolhouse.

The town and surrounding area began to grow by leaps and bounds as more and more people arrived, which included both farmers and businessmen, who along with their families, began their life on the new frontier.