The Sauk County Courthouse, located at 515 Oak Street in

Baraboo Baraboo ( ) is the county seat of Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States, located along the Baraboo River. The population was 12,556 at the 2020 census. The most populous city in the county, Baraboo is the principal city of the Baraboo micropol ...

, is the

county courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

serving

Sauk County Sauk County is a county (United States), county in Wisconsin. It is named after a large village of the Sauk people. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 65,763. Its county seat and largest city is Baraboo, Wiscon ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. Built in 1906, the courthouse is Sauk County's fourth and its third in Baraboo. Wisconsin architecture firm

Ferry & Clas Ferry & Clas was an architectural firm in Wisconsin. It designed many buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. George Bowman Ferry (1851 - 1918) and Alfred Charles Clas (1859 - 1942) were partners. The partners ...

designed the Neoclassical building. The courthouse is 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 ...

History

Sauk County's first courthouse was built in Prairie du Sac in 1844; however, the county seat moved to Baraboo two years later, and after a challenge from Reedsburg an 1852 referendum kept it there. The first courthouse in Baraboo was completed in 1848, on the present-day courthouse square; the two-story building also hosted classes, dances, and church services in its courtroom. The 1848 courthouse burned down in the 1850s, and the county constructed a new brick courthouse at the same site. The new courthouse ultimately burned down as well, in December 1904; however, the county had voted to replace it a month before the fire. Its replacement, the current courthouse, was completed in 1906.Accompanied by photos
The courthouse's tower was renovated in 1915 to add bells. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 9, 1982. The county expanded it in 1989 and renovated it in 1996.

Architecture

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

-based architecture firm

designed the Neoclassical courthouse. The two-story building is built of Indiana limestone. The front entrance is flanked by two-story Ionic

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s; the door is topped by a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

, and long windows on the second floor complete the entrance. An

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and projecting

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

, separated by

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Rev ...

lation, run along the building's roof line. The courthouse's

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including Tented roof, tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other ve ...

is topped by a clock tower, which was originally a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

before its renovation. While much of the interior has been renovated, the courthouse's marble staircase hall and

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ed corridors are original; the former features decorative

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

s and

egg-and-dart Egg-and-dart, also known as egg-and-tongue, egg-and-anchor, or egg-and-star, is an Ornament (architecture), ornamental device adorning the fundamental quarter-round, convex ovolo profile of molding (decorative), moulding, consisting of alternating ...

moldings.

References

{{NRHP in Sauk County, Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Sauk County, Wisconsin Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Neoclassical architecture in Wisconsin Government buildings completed in 1906 Baraboo, Wisconsin County courthouses in Wisconsin 1906 establishments in Wisconsin