Buchanan County Court House in

Independence, Iowa Independence is a city in, and the county seat of, Buchanan County, Iowa, United States. The population was 6,064 in the 2020 census, an increase from 6,014 in 2000. History Independence was founded in 1847 near the center of present-day Buch ...

, United States was built in 1940. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2003 as a part of the PWA-Era County Courthouses of IA Multiple Properties Submission. The current structure is the third courthouse to house court functions and county administration.

History

A small wooden structure that was built in 1847 was the first building used for court functions. The first term of court was held in a log cabin belonging to Rufus B. Clark and the second term was held in the storeroom of a schoolhouse. A courthouse was finally built in Independence in 1857 for about $10,000. Voters elected to build a new courthouse in 1880 for $7,500.

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

architects Dougher, Rich & Woodburn were retained to design a new courthouse. The county applied for and received a grant from the

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...

(PWA) in 1938. This is one of ten courthouses in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

that received PWA funds. County voters approved a bond referendum for additional funding on June 6, 1938. Five houses were removed from an expanded courthouse square and groundbreaking for the new courthouse took place November 15, 1938. The

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

was laid on September 20, 1939, and C.C. Larsen Company of

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...

was responsible for the building's construction. The county board of supervisors received the completed building on March 22, 1940. The courthouse was dedicated on May 22 of the same year. Nearly 4,000 people attended the parade and heard the address by retired Rear Admiral Harry Yarnell, formerly of Buchanan County, who was the main speaker. The old courthouse was taken down after the new courthouse was dedicated, and landscaping was completed by autumn. A wing was added to the north end of the courthouse in 1976 to house the county's correctional facility. Subsequently, another addition was built on the south side of the historic building.

Architecture

The architectural style of the historic portion of the building is known as Depression Modern or

PWA Moderne The Art Deco style, which originated in France just before World War I, had an important impact on architecture and design in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. The most famous examples are the skyscrapers of New York City including the Em ...

. The building features a symmetrical

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

with a central section that is flanked by two lower sections. The exterior is clad in buff-colored brick with Bedford limestone trim. It rises three stories above a raised basement. A central corridor on each floor extends the length of the building, with the offices opening onto the corridors. The building features multi-colored

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bindi ...

floors, marble

wainscoting Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...

, and

acoustic tile A dropped ceiling is a secondary ceiling, hung below the main (structural) ceiling. It may also be referred to as a drop ceiling, T-bar ceiling, false ceiling, suspended ceiling, grid ceiling, drop in ceiling, drop out ceiling, or ceiling til ...

s. The five tall windows that extend from the second to the third floors of the main elevation mark the location of the courtroom, which was decorated in dark wood tones and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

ornamentation. The building is located on the courthouse square on the north side of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

where the previous courthouse was also located. Two elements on the courthouse square, which itself is a

contributing site In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, are

contributing objects In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

on the building's nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. with The first element is the building's original flagpole. The second is a replica of the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

(1950), which commemorates the 40th anniversary of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

References

{{NRHP in Buchanan County, Iowa Government buildings completed in 1940 Independence, Iowa Buildings and structures in Buchanan County, Iowa County courthouses in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Buchanan County, Iowa Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Public Works Administration in Iowa PWA Moderne architecture in Iowa 1940 establishments in Iowa

History

Architecture

See also

References