The Cass County Courthouse in

Atlantic, Iowa Atlantic is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Iowa, United States, located along the East Nishnabotna River. The population was 6,792 in the 2020 census, a decline from the 7,257 population in 2000. History Atlantic was founded ...

, United States, was built in 1934 as the first courthouse in the state built with funding from the

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was ...

(PWA). 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 2003 as a part of the PWA-Era County Courthouses of Iowa Multiple Properties Submission. The courthouse is the third structure to house court functions and county administration.

History

Cass County was organized in 1853. The first county commissioners met in Indiantown and chose a place called Lewis 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 ...

where they used a two-story house for the courthouse. The

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At ...

extended tracks to Atlantic and the town offered the county land for a new courthouse. In 1869, the county accepted Atlantic's offer and constructed a small frame building on the site. The building soon proved to be inadequate and the county rented the nearby Park House to provide additional space. In 1888, the county spent $50,000 to erect a new two-story brick and stone courthouse that featured a clock tower. It was destroyed by fire in March 1932. Because of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the first referendum to build a new courthouse failed in the General Election of 1932. The following year President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

began the PWA, and Cass County was the first of ten counties in

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

to receive such funding. with Voters passed the second referendum in 1933 and the county retained 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 Dougher, Rich & Woodburn to design the new building. C.C. Larsen Co. of

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 62,799 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, te ...

won the bid to construct the building and work began in March 1934. It was built for $119,000. The new building was dedicated on December 26, 1934, with Governor Clyde L. Herring as the main speaker. Dougher, Rich & Woodburn was able to save three other Iowa counties money by providing a similar design for their county's new courthouse. Newspapers in Buchanan and

Humboldt Humboldt may refer to: People * Alexander von Humboldt, German natural scientist, brother of Wilhelm von Humboldt * Wilhelm von Humboldt, German linguist, philosopher, and diplomat, brother of Alexander von Humboldt Fictional characters * Hu ...

counties printed drawings that were nearly identical when they were planning to build new courthouses in the 1930s. A two-bay garage of matching brick was built in the southwest corner of the square shortly after the courthouse was completed. Around 1984 a 1½-story addition was built onto the west side of the courthouse for a correctional facility.

Architecture

The architectural style of the building is known as Depression Modern or

PWA Moderne The Art Deco style, which originated in France just before World War I, had an important impact on architecture and design in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. The most notable examples are the skyscrapers of New York City, including the ...

. The building features a symmetrical

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

with a central section flanked by two lower wings. The exterior is composed of buff-colored brick and Bedford limestone trim. It is three stories tall above a raised basement. On the interior, central corridors on each floor extend the length of the building, with the offices opening onto the corridors. The building features multi-colored

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bind ...

floors, marble

wainscoting Panelling (or paneling in the United States) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity t ...

, and acoustic tiles. The three tall windows with decorative metal grills that extend from the second to the third floors of the main elevation mark the location of the courtroom, which was decorated in dark wood tones and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

ornamentation. The exterior of the adjoining correctional facility is composed of similar colored brick as the courthouse, and it has no windows. The building is located on the courthouse square to the south of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

, where the previous courthouse was also located. There are three other elements that are

contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

on the courthouse's nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The square itself is a

contributing site In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

, what is believed to be the original flagpole is a

contributing object In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

, and the two-bay garage is another

contributing building In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

References

{{NRHP in Cass County, Iowa Government buildings completed in 1934 County courthouses in Iowa PWA Moderne architecture in Iowa Atlantic, Iowa Buildings and structures in Cass County, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Cass County, Iowa Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Public Works Administration in Iowa 1934 establishments in Iowa