Black Hawk County Courthouse (Iowa)

The Black Hawk County Courthouse is located in downtown Waterloo, Iowa, United States. It is the third dedicated courthouse to house the county's offices since it was created in 1843.

Black Hawk County Courthouse
Black Hawk County Courthouse
General information
TypeCourthouse
Architectural styleInternational Style
Address316 E. 5th St.
Town or cityWaterloo, Iowa
CountryUnited States
Coordinates42.498551°N 92.333080°W / 42.498551; -92.333080
Completed1964
Technical details
Floor countFour

History

Cedar Falls was Black Hawk County's first county seat. The county never had a courthouse there, but instead, rented office space for its needs.[1] The Black Hawk County Board of Commissioners decided to move the county seat to Waterloo on December 10, 1855. Judge John Randall was given the authority to build the county's first courthouse, and to decide its location. A contract for its construction was let for $12,747.61, but its final costs came in at about $27,000.[1] The two-story Federal-style building featured a cupola and six massive two-story pillars on the main facade. The first attempt to replace the original courthouse was defeated on November 8, 1898, but a resolution passed for a new courthouse and jail on November 6, 1900. The two-story Beaux Arts structure was built on a raised basement. It featured a central tower capped with a dome, and a single story portico over the main entrance. It was dedicated in the autumn of 1902, and the old courthouse was demolished five years later.

The current facility opened in August 1964 and replaced the 1902 structure, which had become inadequate. The building contains 101,700 square feet (9,400 m2) of space, and its exterior is composed of polished red and black stone.[1] It was built for $2,850,000.[2] At the time of opening, it housed all county offices including the sheriff and jail, which moved to their own facility across Lafayette Street in 1995.[3]

gollark: Deploying melonolaser strike.
gollark: No. That is unacceptable.
gollark: ħ.
gollark: Making a stock market, really, is just cart/horse misordering brought on by people wanting to bring in the shiny parts of the modern economy without the rest.
gollark: But a stock market won't work unless you somehow get everyone to subscribe to boring things like accounting and profit sharing and stuff.

References
  1. Stanek, Edward and Jacqueline (1976). Iowa's Magnificent County Courthouses. Des Moines: Wallace-Homestead. p. 20. ISBN 0-87069-189-9.
  2. "Black Hawk County Courthouse". Iowa Judicial Branch. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  3. Veeder, Grant (February 2011). "Black Hawk County Courthouse History" (PDF). Black Hawk County Auditor. Retrieved 2015-07-21.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.