The Old Worth County Courthouse in Northwood, Iowa, United States, was built in 1880. 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 1981 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource. The courthouse was the first building the county used for court functions and county administration. The building functions as the main museum for the Worth County Historical Society.

History

In 1879 an attempt was made by Kensett, Iowa to have the

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 ...

of Worth County moved to their town. To ensure that the county seat stayed in Northwood the town raised the money for the courthouse and donated the land for the building. A brick Italianate style building was built by Simon Larsen in 1880 for $4,400 It was replaced in 1893 by the present courthouse. After its use as a courthouse, the building served as a high school for twenty years. After that, it was used as a public library on the main floor and as a youth center on the second floor. On July 4, 1973, the Worth County Historical Society opened a museum in the building.

Architecture

The former courthouse in two-stories in height, and capped with a

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

. It features round arch windows with brick hoods and a keystone. The entrance vestibule in the front was added in the 1920s. The significance of the courthouse is derived from its association with county government, and the political power and prestige of Northwood as the county seat. It is also one of the few 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 was built in the Italianate style, and one of the few former county courthouses that remain standing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worth County Courthouse, Old Government buildings completed in 1880 Italianate architecture in Iowa Buildings and structures in Worth County, Iowa Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Former courthouses in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Worth County, Iowa

History

Architecture

See also

References