Brown County Courthouse (South Dakota)
United States historic place
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Brown County Courthouse is a historic courthouse in Aberdeen, the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota. It was built in 1904 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Brown County Courthouse | |
Courthouse circa 1910, showing original stairway | |
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 Interactive map showing the location of Brown County Courthouse | |
| Location | Aberdeen, South Dakota |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 45.4646°N 98.4866°W |
| Built | 1904 |
| Architect | Kinney & Detweiler |
| Architectural style | Renaissance Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 76001718[1] |
| Added to NRHP | June 3, 1976[2] |
History
Columbia, South Dakota, was the site of Brown County's first courthouse until 1887 when Aberdeen became the county seat.[3][4] A dispute followed, and the county seat moved back to Columbia from November 1889 until 1890, after which Aberdeen permanently became the county seat.[4] After becoming the county seat, a wood frame courthouse building was built in Aberdeen.[5][6]
Work on a new courthouse in Aberdeen began by 1902,[7] designed by architects Frank W. Kinney and Menno S. Detweiler.[8][9] It was built by E. Miller of Le Mars, Iowa, and completed in 1904 at a cost of around $120,000.[2][10] Two half blocks of land were donated by several property owners and a street was removed for the courthouse site.[3][5] The courthouse was formally dedicated on March 15, 1904.[3][11] The old courthouse was demolished in 1905 and the site was turned into a park.[6][12]
In 1974, the sandstone stairway that led to the second floor entrance was removed to improve accessibility; it was replaced by a plate glass entrance on the first floor. The courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 3, 1976.[2] In 2014, after suffering deterioration, the stained glass window around the old entrance was removed, cleaned, and reinstalled.[13]
Architecture
The courthouse is a three-story building in the Renaissance Revival style. The building is made of Berea Sandstone that was quarried near Cleveland, Ohio.[2] The front facade faces south and is divided into thirteen bays. The entrance is flanked by two 20-foot-tall (6.1 m) Corinthian columns made of Ortonville granite. The original second-floor entrance is encircled by a two-story-tall arch of stained glass. The building is topped by a dome with four clocks facing each of north, south, east and west. On top of the dome is a copper statue of Justice.[2]
The courthouse originally stood alone on the block; later on an addition was built at the southwest corner for more offices and a jail was built at the southeast corner.[2]
