County courthouse boasts interesting history

The Chase County Courthouse has had an interesting and somewhat exciting history.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The story begins in 1880 when the census of the Chase County area showed a population of 70 people.
Early settler and oldest person listed at that time was 65-year-old Minerva Lawton of Wauneta, mother of Mrs. George (Sarah) Rowley, whose husband was murdered by a Cheyenne Chief in 1878.
Rowley raised two boys and was among the increasing population of the Chase County area.
Chase County became organized in 1886. It lies in an area south of the Platte River that enjoys fertile farmland.
By 1890, with the coming of many new homesteaders, the population swelled to 4,807.
Not only was the county becoming more organized, Imperial eventually became the county seat.
Imperial developers, Lincoln Land Company (being associated with a railroad company), donated the first courthouse building in 1889, according to excerpts from a compilation by Leroy Mathers and W. G. Adams.
The land company platted the town, and it appeared that their intentions were to encourage development between the railroad tracks and the courthouse site.
Things become intriguing
Before the courthouse building was donated, a series of suspicious fires was taking place with area businesses, raising havoc with county records.
In February 1910, the donated courthouse building burned down as a result of arson.
A reward of $300 was offered for the arrest and conviction of the party or parties who set the fire, said information from the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service and National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
Apparently, the individual who set the fire was trying to hide his embezzlement activities, although the fireproof vaults remained standing.
The county received $3,000 from its insurance company which they deposited into a building fund.
An election was held on May 3, 1910 to vote on $25,000 in courthouse bonds and was passed, said the NRHP official records.
That same month, the county commissioners hired A.T. Simmons, an architect from Bloomington, Illinois, to design a new Chase County Courthouse. Simmons also designed the Dundy County Courthouse in 1921.
The current courthouse was built between 1910-1912.

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