Dickinson County Courthouse (Iowa)

Last updated
Dickinson County Courthouse
New Dickinson County Courthouse, Spirit Lake, IA.jpg
The current courthouse
General information
TypeCourthouse
Architectural style Post-modern
Address1802 Hill Ave.
Town or city Spirit Lake, Iowa
Country United States
Coordinates 43°25′20″N95°06′12″W / 43.422086°N 95.103305°W / 43.422086; -95.103305 Coordinates: 43°25′20″N95°06′12″W / 43.422086°N 95.103305°W / 43.422086; -95.103305
Construction startedAugust 2004
InauguratedJune 2009
Cost$14.9 million
Technical details
Floor countTwo
Design and construction
Architecture firmRDG Planning and Design
Dickinson County IA Courthouse.jpg
The former Dickinson County Courthouse
Coordinates 43°25′20″N95°06′12″W / 43.422086°N 95.103305°W / 43.422086; -95.103305
Built1891
ArchitectT.D. Allen
Architectural style Romanesque
NRHP reference # 81000235
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 2, 1981 [1]
Removed from NRHPSeptember 13, 2006 [2]

The Dickinson County Courthouse is located in Spirit Lake, Iowa, United States. Built in two phases in 2006 and 2009, it is the fourth building to house court functions and county administration.

Spirit Lake, Iowa City in Iowa, United States

Spirit Lake is a city in Dickinson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,840 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dickinson County.

Contents

History

Construction for Dickinson County's first courthouse was begun in 1859, but it wasn't finished until 1868. [3] Native Americans attacked settlers along the Des Moines River in 1862. There were between 25 and 40 families who took up shelter in the unfinished building for protection. [4] A company of Union Army soldiers from Sioux City, Iowa took up quarters in the building, and the settlers returned to their homes. The troops remained until 1865, and work was done to the building sporadically until the brick Greek Revival structure was completed in 1868. In addition to a courthouse, this building was used for a schoolhouse, revival meetings, dances, traveling shows, political meetings, and other civic functions. It and some of the county records were destroyed in a fire on November 24, 1871.

Dickinson County, Iowa U.S. county in Iowa

Dickinson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2010 census, the population was 16,667. The county seat is Spirit Lake. The county was organized in 1857 and is named in honor of Daniel S. Dickinson, a U.S. Senator for New York.

Native Americans in the United States Indigenous peoples of the United States (except Hawaii)

Native Americans, also known as American Indians, Indigenous Americans and other terms, are the indigenous peoples of the United States, except Hawaii and territories of the United States. More than 570 federally recognized tribes live within the US, about half of which are associated with Indian reservations. The term "American Indian" excludes Native Hawaiians and some Alaskan Natives, while "Native Americans" are American Indians, plus Alaska Natives of all ethnicities. The US Census does not include Native Hawaiians or Chamorro, instead being included in the Census grouping of "Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander".

Des Moines River river in Iowa, United States

The Des Moines River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately 525 miles (845 km) long from its farther headwaters. The largest river flowing across the state of Iowa, it rises in southern Minnesota and flows across Iowa from northwest to southeast, passing from the glaciated plains into the unglaciated hills near the capital city of Des Moines, named after the river, in the center of the state. The river continues to flow at a southeastern direction away from Des Moines, later flowing directly into the Mississippi River.

The second county courthouse was a brick structure that was built using some of the bricks from the original courthouse. [4] The building was condemned in the late 1880s.

The third courthouse was begun in October 1890 and it opened in 1891 at a cost of almost $15,000. T.D. Allen designed the structure in a Romanesque Revival style featuring a square tower with a hip roof on one corner. Bricks from the first two courthouses were mixed in with the concrete that was used for the foundation. [4] It was expanded in 1957, 1976, and 1978 to accommodate the growing county government. The third county courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1981. By the early 21st-century, the historic structure started to fail and the County Board of Supervisors determined it was not worth renovating. [5] Voters authorized spending for the current facility in 2003 after three failed attempts. RDG Planning and Design of Des Moines was hired to design the new courthouse.

Romanesque Revival architecture style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century

Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, however, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to feature more simplified arches and windows than their historic counterparts.

Hip roof type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls

A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus a hipped roof house has no gables or other vertical sides to the roof.

National Register of Historic Places Federal list of historic sites in the United States

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. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred in preserving the property.

Construction on the present courthouse was begun in July 2004 by McHan Construction of Sioux City. Former U.S. Congressman Berkley Bedell gave the keynote address at the groundbreaking ceremony on August 12. The old courthouse remained in use during the first phase of construction until it was razed in 2005. It was removed from the NRHP the following year. [2] Phase one construction, the western half of the building, was completed in March 2006 and the county jail, communications center and sheriff's department, assessor, recorder, treasurer, veterans affairs, clerk of courts, and community services moved into the new facility during an 8-inch (20 cm) snowstorm. [5] The courtrooms and law library were also finished at this time. Phase II of the $14.9 million project was completed in January 2009, and the remaining county offices moved into the building. It was the first time in 50 years that all county offices were in the same building. [5] The courthouse was the first new county courthouse built in Iowa in more than 30 years. [6] It was dedicated in June 2009.

Berkley Bedell United States Congressman

Berkley Warren Bedell is a retired American politician and businessman who served as the U.S. Representative for Iowa's 6th congressional district from 1975 to 1987. After starting a successful business in his youth, Berkley Fly Co., he ran for Congress in 1972, but was defeated by incumbent Wiley Mayne. In 1974 however, Bedell beat Wiley Mayne and was elected to the U.S. House.

Architecture

The 60,000- square-foot (5,600 m2) facility is two stories, faced with red brick and limestone accents, and features large windows on its curved front façade. Adjacent is a tower at the same location of the tower of the former courthouse and visually similar. It rises 62 feet (19 m) and houses information on county history, attractions, and veterans named on the nearby memorial. [5] [7] Designed to last at least 100 years, the courthouse features three courtrooms, a state-of-the-art jail system and 911 communications center, a community/supervisors room that seats more than 100 people, decorative medallions on the terrazzo floor that depict county townships and lakes, and an eco-friendly parking lot that uses low impact development techniques to manage stormwater runoff. [5] [6]

Square foot imperial unit and U.S. customary unit of area

The square foot is an imperial unit and U.S. customary unit of area, used mainly in the United States and partially in Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore and the United Kingdom. It is defined as the area of a square with sides of 1 foot.

Limestone Sedimentary rocks made of calcium carbonate

Limestone is a carbonate sedimentary rock that is often composed of the skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, foraminifera, and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). A closely related rock is dolomite, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. In old USGS publications, dolomite was referred to as magnesian limestone, a term now reserved for magnesium-deficient dolomites or magnesium-rich limestones.

9-1-1 emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan (NANP)

9-1-1, also written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency numbers around the world, this number is intended for use in emergency circumstances only, and using it for any other purpose is a crime in certain jurisdictions.

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References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "National Register of Historic Places: Weekly List". National Park Service. September 22, 2006. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  3. ↑ "Dickinson County Courthouse". Iowa Judicial Branch. Retrieved 2015-07-24.
  4. 1 2 3 Stanek, Edward and Jacqueline (1976). Iowa's Magnificent County Courthouses. Des Moines: Wallace-Homestead. p. 28. ISBN   0-87069-189-9.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Greg Drees (July 21, 2009). "Dickinson County builds new courthouse - $14.9 million project first new Iowa courthouse in three decades". Sioux City Journal . Sioux City, Iowa . Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  6. 1 2 Greg Drees (July 21, 2009). "Dickinson County Courthouse symbol of resolve - Supervisors stayed course to construct gleaming facility". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  7. ↑ Anitra Wolf (December 23, 2009). "Courthouse tower honors history, guides visitors". Spirit Lake, Iowa: Dickinson County News. Retrieved 2015-07-24.
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