The Hancock County Courthouse is located in

Garner, Iowa Garner is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,065 in the 2020 census, an increase from 2,922 in 2000. History 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 1981 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource. The courthouse is the second structure to house court functions and county administration.

History

Truman Seymor from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

donated the land for the first

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

in Hancock County. The place was named Concord and officials constructed two small buildings on the site in 1865 for $2,000. Within two years the buildings became too small and county supervisors erected a new courthouse for $10,000 in 1868. The city of Garner annexed Concord in the 1890s while residents from Britt attempted to have the county seat relocated. Garner, however, retained the designation after a group of businessmen purchased a new site, built a courthouse and donated it to the county. Citizens on the east side of the county contributed $25,000 towards the new building designed by F.W. Kinney. Gross Construction completed the structure in 1899. It is two-stories tall, faced with tan brick, and it features

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

accents. The structure rests on an exposed ground level covered in rusticated stone. The building has lost several elements that gave it architectural interest. with They include 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 ...

, tower, roof

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

, and upper floor windows have been boarded up. The structure was expanded in 1977 when a separate facility to house the sheriff's offices and jail were constructed south of the courthouse. A 1999 expansion connected this to the main structure. The significance of the courthouse is derived from its association with county government, and the political power and prestige of Garner as the county seat.

References

{{NRHP in Hancock County, Iowa Government buildings completed in 1899 Buildings and structures in Hancock County, Iowa Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa County courthouses in Iowa 1899 establishments in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Hancock County, Iowa