WINTERSET, a post-village, capital of Madison county, Iowa, on the road leading from Fort Des Moines to Council Bluffs, 150 miles W. by S. from Iowa City. (Baldwin's New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States..., 1854)
WINTERSET is the county seat [Madison County, Iowa], and situated in the centre of the county, on rolling prairie, near Middle River. Coal, timber and building stone are plenty near the town. Many of the business houses are built of stone, taken from a quarry near the edge of the town. The place contains four churches, one bank, eight general stores, two drug stores, one hardware store, two groceries, two flour mills, and one woolen factory. A weekly newspaper is published. Population, 1,000. (Hair's Iowa State Gazetteer..., 1865)