The Big Stone County Courthouse in

Ortonville, Minnesota Ortonville is a city in Big Stone County in the U.S. state of Minnesota at the southern tip of Big Stone Lake, along the border with South Dakota. The population was 2,021 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Big Stone County. Big Sto ...

is the center of government for

Big Stone County, Minnesota Big Stone County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,166. Its county seat is Ortonville. History The county was formed in 1862, and was organized in 1874. Geography Big Stone County lies on ...

. The county was established by the

Minnesota Legislature The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decennia ...

in 1862, but the government was not organized until 1873, when Governor

Horace Austin Horace Austin (October 15, 1831November 2, 1905) was an American politician. He served as the sixth Governor of Minnesota from January 9, 1870 to January 7, 1874. He was a Republican. A reputation for clearheaded objectivity and disdain for co ...

appointed three county commissioners. They did nothing, so Governor

Cushman Kellogg Davis Cushman Kellogg Davis (June 16, 1838November 27, 1900) was an American Republican politician who served as the seventh Governor of Minnesota and as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota. Early life and American Civil War Davis was born in Henderson, Ne ...

appointed three replacement commissioners in 1874. The county seat was established at Ortonville in 1874 and three elected commissioners took office in the beginning of 1877. The organization was challenged in court, and the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the county had not properly been organized. The county was declared organized in 1881 by the Minnesota Legislature. The first courthouse, a wood-frame structure, was built in October 1882, but was destroyed by fire on October 31, 1885. A new wood-frame courthouse was built in 1886, and the county later built a granite jail building in 1895. In 1901, the county decided to replace the wood-frame courthouse with a brick building. Architect Fremont D. Orff designed the building, and Ole H. Olsen of

Stillwater, Minnesota Stillwater is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Washington County. It is in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, on the west bank of the St. Croix River (Wisconsin-Minnesota), St. Croix River, across from H ...

was awarded the construction contract. The building was completed in 1902. The previous wooden courthouse was donated to the local school district, which used it for a classroom until it was demolished in 1918. The 1895 jail building was demolished during the 1940s. The building is faced with light brown brick and is accented with Ortonville granite trim. During a 1983-1984 study, the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office surveyed seven counties in west central Minnesota, and noted that the courthouse was the largest turn-of-the-century building in Big Stone County and one of its best examples of large-scale Victorian architecture. It is historically significant as one of a shrinking number of Victorian-style Minnesota courthouses, and it has served as the seat of government since it was built.

References

Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Gothic Revival architecture in Minnesota Government buildings completed in 1902 National Register of Historic Places in Big Stone County, Minnesota County courthouses in Minnesota 1902 establishments in Minnesota {{Minnesota-NRHP-stub