The Woodbury County Courthouse is located at 620 Douglas Street in

Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

, the county seat of

Woodbury County, Iowa Woodbury County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,941, making it the sixth-most populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Sioux City. Woodbury County is included in the Sioux City me ...

, United States. It is regarded as "one of the finest

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...

buildings in the United States" and has been declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

for its architecture. It is used for legal proceedings in the county.

Early courthouses

Initially, crude log structures were used for county business. Sioux City was made 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 ...

in 1856, and it was at this time a county-owned courthouse was considered. It was to be located on the public square and the foundation was laid in 1857. The contract to complete the building was let two years later, but it was canceled before construction could begin. County offices continued to be located in various locations in the city. Voters approved the construction of a courthouse in October 1875. It was designed by Des Moines architect William L. Foster and built by brothers Charles E. Hedges and Daniel T. Hedges for $75,000. Designed in the

Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...

, the building was composed of

Kasota limestone Kasota limestone or simply, Kasota stone, also called Mankato stone, is a dolomitic limestone found in southern Minnesota, especially near the Minnesota River and its tributaries. This sedimentary rock is part of the Oneota Dolomite of southern M ...

. It featured a

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

with iron cresting and a corner tower capped with a dome and a statue of

Lady Justice Lady Justice ( la, Iustitia) is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are scales, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. She often appears as a pair with Prudentia. Lady Justice originates from the ...

Present courthouse

In 1914, the county determined that the courthouse was too small for the city and they decided to build a new one. The old courthouse was sold and the new one, designed by the Minneapolis architect

George Grant Elmslie George Grant Elmslie (February 20, 1869 – April 23, 1952) was a Scottish-born American Prairie School architect whose work is mostly found in the Midwestern United States. He worked with Louis Sullivan and later with William Gray Purcell as a ...

in collaboration with the Sioux City architect

William L. Steele William LaBarthe Steele (May 2, 1875 – March 4, 1949) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois. He is considered a principal member of the Prairie School Architectural Movement during the early 20th century. Career After graduating f ...

and Elmslie's partner,

William Gray Purcell William Gray Purcell (July 2, 1880April 11, 1965) was a Prairie School architect in the Midwestern United States. He partnered with George Grant Elmslie, and briefly with George Feick. The firm of Purcell & Elmslie produced designs for buildings i ...

, was constructed from July 10, 1916 to March 1, 1918 at a cost of $850,000. This building is the current courthouse, located at the southeast corner of Douglas and Seventh Streets. It is a nearly square four story structure, built out of

Roman brick Roman brick can refer either to a type of brick used in Ancient Roman architecture and spread by the Romans to the lands they conquered; or to a modern type inspired by the ancient prototypes. In both cases, it characteristically has longer and f ...

, with

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 ...

and terra cotta trim elements. It has a eight-story tower, and features sculptural work by

Alfonso Iannelli Alfonso Iannelli (February 17, 1888 – March 23, 1965) was an Italian-American sculptor, artist, and industrial designer. Based in Chicago for most of his life, Iannelli was born in Andretta, Italy on February 17, 1888. He came to America in ...

over its doors. The northern entrance features metal grillwork designed by Elmslie. The interior floors are marble, and the central rotunda features a glass mosaic drinking fountain in one wall. All ornamental metal work was produced by Crown Iron Works of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The interior murals were painted by John Norton of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. In 1973, the building was added to 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 ...

. It was declared a

in 1996. and

References

External links

William Gray Purcell papers, N3
Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis, MN {{NRHP in Woodbury County, Iowa Buildings and structures in Sioux City, Iowa National Historic Landmarks in Iowa County courthouses in Iowa Government buildings completed in 1918 Towers in Iowa Prairie School architecture in Iowa Purcell and Elmslie buildings William L. Steele buildings Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Sioux City, Iowa 1918 establishments in Iowa

Early courthouses

Present courthouse

See also

References

External links