The O'Brien County Courthouse is located in

Primghar, Iowa Primghar is a city in, and the county seat of, O'Brien County, Iowa, United States. The population was 896 at the time of the 2020 census. Primghar is 23.5 miles south of Iowa State Highway 9, 28 miles east of Sioux Center and 6.75 miles north ...

, United States. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1981 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource. The courthouse is the fourth building the county has used for court functions and county administration.

History

The county's first courthouse was a log building built on a farm for about $2,000 in 1860. It was later moved to a different location where it served as a schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, and a stable. The county's second courthouse was completed in April 1874 for about $2,000 as well. It was built in the recently established county seat of Primghar. That building was replaced by the third courthouse that was built in 1887 for $6,000. The building measured . An addition was built on to the structure in 1902 to create additional space for the county government. The present courthouse was completed in 1915 for $159,000. Designed by the

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

architectural firm of Smith & Loeffer, it is a rather austere version of the Beaux Arts style. with L.E. Lovejoy was the contractor that was responsible for its construction.

Architecture

The building is three stories tall and the exterior is clad in Bedford stone. It features six Doric columns ''in antis'' on the main facade, and rather large windows. The interior corridors are made of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

and the handrails in the stairways are finished in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

. The significance of the courthouse is derived from its association with county government, and the political power and prestige of Primghar as the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

References

{{NRHP in O'Brien County, Iowa Government buildings completed in 1917 Primghar, Iowa Beaux-Arts architecture in Iowa Buildings and structures in O'Brien County, Iowa Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa County courthouses in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in O'Brien County, Iowa