Worth County Courthouse in
Northwood, Iowa
Northwood is a city in Worth County, Iowa, United States, along the Shell Rock River. The population was 2,072 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Worth County.
Northwood is part of the Mason City Micropolitan Statistical ...
was built in 1893 in a
Romanesque style
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...
. 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 ...
(NRHP) in 1981.
[ The building is the second courthouse for the county and it was completed in 1893.]
History
The first courthouse was built in 1879 with a contributed total of $5,075 with construction finishing in 1880. Before the courthouse was finished, it was agreed that the land upon which the courthouse was built could be subdivided among the people who participated in the erection of the courthouse if the land went back to the original owners and that the only way that the courthouse can be moved is if there is a written majority consensus from the contributors to move it. The first courthouse was made out of bricks and was considered plain and only $4,400 of the contributed sum was used to build it.
Current courthouse
Built following an election which resulted in Northwood remaining 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 ...
and completed in 1893, the current courthouse is made out of brick and has a base made out of limestone. It includes a small tower with no clock, however, it once included a taller roof and sharply-pointed gablets.[ ] Out of the donated $5,000 only $4,594 was used to build the courthouse. The first tower was replaced and the entire courthouse renovated in 1938. A Civil War cannon is on the grounds of the courthouse that was erected by the Worth County Sesquicentennial Commission in 1996.Fort Pitt Foundry
The Fort Pitt Foundry was a nineteenth-century iron foundry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally established at Fifth Avenue and Smithfield Street in 1804 by Joseph McClurg, grandfather of Joseph W. McClurg, and his son Alex McClurg, ...
. The cannon is an 1861 columbiad
The columbiad was a large-caliber, smoothbore, muzzle-loading cannon able to fire heavy projectiles at both high and low trajectories. This feature enabled the columbiad to fire solid shot or shell to long ranges, making it an excellent seacoas ...
. The cannon used to be located on the north bank of Shell Rock River
The Shell Rock River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 tributary of the West Fork Cedar River in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa in the United States ...
.[
]
See also
*Old Worth County Courthouse (Northwood, Iowa)
The Old Worth County Courthouse in Northwood, Iowa, United States, was built in 1880. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource. The courthouse was the first bui ...
, also NRHP-listed and in Northwood
References
{{NRHP in Worth County, Iowa
Government buildings completed in 1893
Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa
County courthouses in Iowa
Buildings and structures in Worth County, Iowa
National Register of Historic Places in Worth County, Iowa