The Cimarron County Courthouse is the historic

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

Cimarron County, Oklahoma Cimarron County is the westernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its county seat is Boise City, Oklahoma, Boise City. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 2,296, making it the le ...

, located in Boise City. The courthouse was designed by M.C. Parker in the

Classical Revival Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassic ...

and Neoclassical styles and built in red brick by Strong & Froman. The building opened in 1926 after the previous wood-frame courthouse burned down. The courthouse is surrounded by a traffic circle that has several highways in a unique example of

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

, including

US-56 U.S. Route 56 (US 56) is an east–west United States highway that runs for approximately in the Midwestern United States. US 56's western terminus is at Interstate 25 Business (I-25 Bus.), US 412 and New Mexico State Road 21 (NM 21) in Spri ...

, US-64, US-287, US-385, US-412, State Highway 3, and SH-325. The highways lead to different locations including north to

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, northeast to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, west to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, and southwest to the Texas Panhandle. On August 23, 1984, the courthouse was added to 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 1943, an

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

training mission accidentally bombed the courthouse. The training unit, which mistook the courthouse for its intended target, dropped six practice bombs near the building. All but one of the bombs exploded, though they did little damage as they were made of dynamite and sand; the city preserved the unexploded bomb. Boise City was once thought to be the only U.S. city bombed by its own military, though similar incidents have since been discovered.

References

External links

* Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Courthouses in Oklahoma Neoclassical architecture in Oklahoma Government buildings completed in 1926 Buildings and structures in Cimarron County, Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Cimarron County, Oklahoma 1926 establishments in Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-NRHP-stub