Hutchinson county was organized on January 13, 1871. John Bray, Thomas Maxwell and Josiah gray were named the first county commissioners. The county seat was located at Maxwell city, about two miles southeast of Olivet. The county commissioners gave john bray the contract in 1879 to furnish the lumber and build a county jail in Olivet. He had to haul the lumber from Yankton. Shortly after he completed the jail, the C.M & St. Paul railroad came through Menno, “according to Menno, the first 100 years. There is no mention of where the 4-cell iron structure was purchased or how it was transported to Olivet. Also from the Menno history book, “ In 1881, he (john bray) signed another contract to furnish the lumber and build a courthouse, according to specifications of the commissioners. …court sessions were previously held in the school house in Olivet. The Hutchinson County population voted to move the county seat from Maxwell city to Olivet on October 14, 1883. The 1881 contract called for a 36x50 foot building at the cost of $3,000.00. the iron roof was the last thing to be completed by July, 1884. If this reader is confused about dates, so is the writer. There seemed to be some political maneuvering regarding the location of the courthouse. How could a contract be signed to build a county jail in Olivet in 1979 for county seat that was located in Maxwell City? An how could a contract be signed in 1881 to build a courthouse in Olivet when the people didn’t vote on the location until 1883? Theory has it that Mr. John Bray owned quite a bit of land and was quite influential, but this generation will never know.

               The Hutchinson County Jail, built in Olivet in 1879, had 4 cells each with two bunks, seven windows, and office area with a stove and jailer’s quarters with a bed and night stand, and an outside storage area. The door faced to the south, with entrance off o Highway 18, which was just a dirt path at the time. In 1881, the Hutchinson County Courthouse two-story building was erected a few feet to the west of the (1879) county jail. Additions, one to the west in 1967 and one to the east in 1975, make up the building as it is today. Before the east addition could be built (which would include a new jail cell), the old jailhouse was tore down September, 1974. The iron cell was moved south across Highway 18, about 1 block west. Later it was moved back north across Highway 18 to the Johnson Brothers property. When Elton Lehr brought that property, he also got the jail cell with the land. He later sold it to Clyde and Virginia Bratton, who moved it to their property on the east edge of Olivet, south side of Highway 18. There it sat, rusting away until 2002 when it was donated by the Brattons to the Menno Pioneer Heritage Association and moved to Pioneer Acres. Sitting unprotected for another three years, more rust accumulated. The volunteers began serious renovations on the metal structure in 2004 with some welding work and rust removal done on the hinges. A concrete pad was poured next to the flour mill and the cell was moved, only to wait another year for a building to protect it. In the summer of 2005, the metal was sandblasted, erasing any carvings and initials left inside the cells by lawbreakers. Primer and two coats of white paint would prevent further rusting and deterioration. The jailhouse was built with seven windows, modeled after the original Hutchinson County jailhouse. Inside a small office and ajilers quarters occupy the front portion of the building. In this new jailhouse, there is a walkway all around the outside of the cell block, so visitors can view from all angles. The original jailhouse door faced to the south, to Highway 18. The replica faces to the west, due to tits location at Pioneer Acres.