The Dallas County Courthouse in

Adel, Iowa Adel ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Iowa, United States. It is located along the Raccoon River, North Raccoon River. Its population was 6,153 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. History Adel is th ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

was built in 1902. It was individually 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 1973, and is a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource. In 2009 it was included as a

contributing property 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 dist ...

in the Adel Public Square Historic District. The current structure is the fourth building to house court functions and county administration.

History

Dallas County's first courthouse was a double

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

constructed of cottonwood logs and served the county from 1848-1853. County leaders constructed a second courthouse that was a single-story frame structure that measured . It served the county for five years when a third facility was constructed. It was a two-story brick structure measuring , and was built for $20,000. The current courthouse was built with $85,000 in funding approved by county voters in 1900. On September 19, 1902, it was dedicated in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 people. Beginning in the late 1960s or early 1970s, the county acquired properties on the northwest side of the square. Over the years various county offices moved from the courthouse to these buildings. A new sheriff's office and jail was completed in 1990. A study of the courthouse in 2004 found that the original flooring system and its supports were deteriorating, and the building was closed. After studying the issue, holding hearings, and a referendum, it was decided to remodel the existing building. Keffer/Overton Architects of

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 ...

designed the project. The renovation project began in 2005 to deal with the structural issues, restore the

rotunda A rotunda () is any roofed building with a circular ground plan, and sometimes covered by a dome. It may also refer to a round room within a building (an example being the one below the dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.). ...

, added a new stairwell and elevator, and it addressed cosmetic concerns such as repainting interior spaces in their original color schemes and installing new light fixtures to match the wrought iron of the Grand Stair Case. The final stage of the project is an $80,000 restoration of the artwork on the ceiling.

Architecture

The courthouse was designed by the prominent

architectural firm of

Proudfoot & Bird Proudfoot & Bird was an American architectural firm that designed many buildings throughout the Midwest region of the United States. Originally established in 1882, it remains active through its several successors, and since 2017 has been known as ...

. George Bird, who is considered the primary designer, used the Chateau Azay-le-Rideau in

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, as his inspiration. with Rawson and Son was the contractor for the project that cost $109,243. The 3½-story structure is constructed of Bedford stone and features a tower housing a $1,000 clock. Some of the stones weigh 3½ tons. The structure is built on a rusticated stone foundation and capped with a

hipped 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 roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other vertical sides ...

. Elements of the

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...

style are found in the ornately carved

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

s and the round corner towers capped with

conical roof A conical roof or cone roof is a cone-shaped roof that is circular at its base and terminates in a point. Distribution Conical roofs are frequently found on top of towers in medieval town fortifications and castles, where they may either sit d ...

s. The entire roof is covered with red tiles. The courthouse sits in the middle of the landscaped public square. It features walkways, a lawn, trees, benches, floral plantings, and monuments to the

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References

{{NRHP in Dallas County, Iowa Government buildings completed in 1902 Victorian architecture in Iowa Buildings and structures in Dallas County, Iowa Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa County courthouses in Iowa Clock towers in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Dallas County, Iowa Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Iowa