The Greene County Courthouse, located in

Jefferson, Iowa Jefferson is a city in, and the county seat of Greene County, Iowa, United States, along the Raccoon River, North Raccoon River. The population was 4,182 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is the home of the Mahanay Me ...

, United States, was built in 1918. It was individually 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 1978 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource. In 2011, it was included as a

contributing property 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 distri ...

in the

Jefferson Square Commercial Historic District The Jefferson Square Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Jefferson, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. At the time of its nomination the dist ...

. The courthouse is the third structure to house court functions and county administration. The courthouse features the Mahany Tower, a 120 feet bell tower.

History

The first courthouse in Greene County was a frame building built in 1856 for $1,825. Prior to that time the county officers were housed in the Thomas Phillips Building. The second courthouse was completed in 1870 for $37,000. The building featured a bell in the

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

that served as a fire alarm, called the court into session and announced curfew. The present courthouse was dedicated in 1917 and was built at a cost of $200,000. A

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

to President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

was added in 1918 to commemorate the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

, which passes in front of the courthouse. The Mahanay Tower was built on the southwest corner of the courthouse grounds in 1966. In 1993, the Lindsey Memorial, commemorating Greene County native

Darrell R. Lindsey Darrell Robins Lindsey (December 30, 1919 – August 9, 1944) was a bomber pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and a Posthumous recognition, posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor. Early life Lindsey was born in Jeffers ...

, posthumous

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipient, was relocated from the

Lindsey Air Station The Europaviertel (European quarter) in Wiesbaden is a former barracks area named ''Gersdorff Kaserne'' at the edge of the city center of the Hessian state capital, approximately 2 kilometers southwest of the Marktkirche. Barracks (1868–1945) ...

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to the southeast corner of the courthouse grounds.

Architecture

The prominent

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, ...

architectural firm of

Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson Proudfoot & Bird was an American architectural firm that designed many buildings throughout the Midwest region of the United States. Originally established in 1882, it remains active through its several successors, and since 2017 has been known as ...

designed the three-story building in the Beaux Arts style. The three-story structure measures about , and its exterior is faced in

Bedford Stone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...

. The north and south elevations are identical, as are the east and west elevations. with The main facades (the north and south elevations) feature Ionic porticos. A clock is set in the tympana of the triangular

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

s. They are decorated with

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

figures and swags. The secondary facades feature Ionic pilastrades set ''in antis''. The interior of the building is organized around the central rotunda, which extends through from the basement to the attic. The rotunda floor features a mosaic tile reproduction of the county seal, and the ceiling is a

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

dome. William Peaco painted the four murals that adorn the inner dome. They are entitled: ''The Buffalo Hunt'', ''The Emigrants'', ''The Pioneer'' and ''The Modern Farm''.

Mahanay Tower

The bell tower was built at a cost of $350,000 and funded by the estate of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Mahanay and dedicated on October 16, 1966. The tower is in the Brutalist style with a three concave sides and contains 14 bells cast by the

Petit & Fritsen Royal Bellfounders Petit & Fritsen, located in Aarle-Rixtel, the Netherlands, is a former foundry, one of the oldest family-owned businesses in the Netherlands, with the foundry dating back to 1660. Petit & Fritsen was a foundry that cast bells f ...

Bell Foundry in

Aarle-Rixtel Aarle-Rixtel is a village in the Dutch municipality of Laarbeek in North Brabant. It lies about 4 km north of Helmond. Since the municipal reorganization of 1968 the castle Croy is part of Aarle-Rixtel. History Aarle was first mentioned ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The bells chime on the quarter-hour and can be operated by an electric keyboard. The tower has an observation deck at that is accessed via a glass elevator.

References

{{NRHP in Greene County, Iowa Government buildings completed in 1918 Beaux-Arts architecture in Iowa Buildings and structures in Greene County, Iowa Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa County courthouses in Iowa Jefferson, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Greene County, Iowa Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Iowa Towers completed in 1966 Bell towers in the United States Carillons Towers in Iowa Tourist attractions in Greene County, Iowa