The U.S. Land Office was in Forest City, but in 1866, it was moved to Greenleaf. There, it was run by William Henry Greenleaf. The land office was moved, but not the building, so Greenleaf had to find a room for it. Colonel Jacob M. Howard, Jr., who was an important man in Litchfield's history, came to Meeker County in 1867. The Civil War veteran bought a farm in Greenleaf. Still keeping his farm in Greenleaf, Jacob moved to the three-year-old village of Litchfield in 1872. He then built the first independent elevator in town on the railroad line. He bought and shipped grain but wanted to do more. Jacob sold the Greenleaf farm in 1879 so he would have the $19,000 he needed to build the grand Howard House hotel at the corner of North Sibley and Depot Street West, which everyone always knew as the Litchfield Hotel. Col. Howard never ran the hotel. He always leased it out, but he could be found “holding court” many a day in the basement tavern.