Hersey held the county seat for 58 years, then Reed City took over

When Osceola County organized in 1869, Hersey became its first county seat. The first Board of Supervisors met at Rooney Hall in Hersey on July 1 that year. For the next fifty-eight years, county business pointed there.

The move was not sudden. Richmond Township describes a long dispute between Hersey and Reed City. The county seat finally moved in 1927. There is no solid basis here for reducing the whole fight to one vote, one lawsuit, or one economic cause.

Reed City did have a strong transportation story. It was settled in 1870, and two railroads reached town by 1872, creating the crossroads that shaped its growth. That helps explain Reed City’s rise, but it does not prove the railroads alone decided the county-seat fight.

Hersey kept its place in the county’s story, but county government did not move back. On today’s map, Hersey is the first county seat and Reed City is the one that followed.