The Polk County Courthouse located in

Des Moines, Iowa 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, ...

, United States, was built in 1906. 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 ...

in 1979 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource. The courthouse is the third building the county has used for court functions and county administration.

History

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

built its first courthouse in 1847 for $2,015. The brick building measured . It was located to the south of the present building. with After the second courthouse was completed, this first building was sold to a church for $800. It later became the Union Depot serving the Wabash and the Des Moines Union Railroads. The second courthouse was built in 1858 for $94,000. The two-story

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 ...

structure, designed by J.C. Farrand, featured a dome. The building measured and the dome rose to a height of . This building was enlarged in 1866. The present courthouse was built in 1906 on the same square as the previous courthouse. It was built for $750,000 in the

Beaux-Arts style Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorpor ...

. Measuring , the rectangular structure was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm of Proudfoot & Bird. It is one of the largest county courthouses in the state, and one of the most architecturally significant. For most of its history, the courthouse hosted both criminal and civil courts. Beginning in 2010, Polk County began a multi-year project to divide court functions between several buildings. A former department store on an adjacent lot was converted into the Polk County Justice Center, which houses the Polk County Attorney as well as juvenile, traffic, and small claims courts. The former county jail (also on a lot adjacent to the courthouse) was partially demolished and rebuilt to host the criminal courts. After this realignment, the historic courthouse hosts only civil court cases.

Architecture

The courthouse is a four-story structure composed of Grey Canyon

Sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

. In the center is a projecting

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

with three arches on the first story and eight

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

columns rising from the third floor to the top of the fourth floor. Projecting pavilions are located on each corner. A tall three-stage square clock tower capped with

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, fro ...

rises from the center of the building. The interior features a large stained glass domed rotunda, marble columns, and murals by Charles A. Cummings and Edward Simmons.

References

External links

{{Historic Des Moines structures Government buildings completed in 1906 Beaux-Arts architecture in Iowa Buildings and structures in Polk County, Iowa Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa County courthouses in Iowa Buildings and structures in Des Moines, Iowa Clock towers in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Des Moines, Iowa 1906 establishments in Iowa