The Kossuth County Courthouse is located in

Algona, Iowa Algona is the county seat of Kossuth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,487 at the 2020 census. Ambrose A. Call State Park is located two miles southwest of the city. History Algona was founded in 1854 and was named after the A ...

, United States. It is the third courthouse the county has used for court functions and county administration. For the first eleven years of the county's existence its government was housed in various buildings in Algona. Its first stand alone courthouse was a frame structure completed in 1867. An

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

-style building with a high tower replaced it in 1874. A grand jury indicted several members of the board of supervisors alleging that construction bids were not given to the lowest bidders and non-courthouse funds were used in its construction. They were all found not guilty. After several grand jury inspections in the 1930s the building was labeled a fire hazard. A bond referendum to build a new courthouse passed on September 9, 1947, but the high cost of materials prevented construction at that time. By 1952 it was determined that further use of the old courthouse was no longer feasible. Plans were made for a new building and the old building was taken down in 1953. The present three-story, brick,

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

structure was completed in 1955. The

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 Dougher, Rich & Woodburn designed the building, and Fagre Construction Company was the general contractor. It was built for about $500,000. The building features a section on its west side that is taller and projects forward from the rest of the structure. The main entrance is located within the

ell An ell (from Proto-Germanic *''alinō'', cognate with Latin ''ulna'') is a northwestern European unit of measurement, originally understood as a cubit (the combined length of the forearm and extended hand). The word literally means "arm", and ...

of the two sections. It has a projecting overhang and glass walls. The south elevation has vertical concrete dividers that divide it into five

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

. Smaller vertical dividers further separate the windows within each bay. The roofline is flat. A semi-circular stone with "Court House A.D. 1872" etched onto it marks the location of the old courthouse.

References

Government buildings completed in 1955 Modernist architecture in Iowa County courthouses in Iowa Buildings and structures in Kossuth County, Iowa Algona, Iowa 1955 establishments in Iowa {{Iowa-struct-stub