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Date:
Constructed 1934.
Architects:
Kings & Dixon of
Mitchell, SD
Description:
The McCook County Courthouse consists of a hip-roofed, rectangular,
three-story building constructed of concrete clad with brick in the Art
Deco style. The front and sides are symmetrical with seven bays on the
front and five on each side. There is a contrasting stone base rising
to the sills of the first floor windows. The ground floor is slightly
projecting and topped with a contrasting stone belt course, giving the
appearance that the upper two floors rest on a raised foundation or
pedestal. The center bay on the facade has an entrance framed by a
slightly projecting stone surround. On the second and third floors the
center bay is flanked by two wide projecting pilasters, topped with
stone caps with geometric motifs rising nearly to the roof line. Within
the center bay are two smaller piers rising to the top of the third
floor windows where there is a decorated stone panel and a flag pole.
The bays on either side of the center bay contain windows on the ground
floor and windows on the second and third floors, which are separated
horizontally by spandrel panels of polished aluminum with a geometric
design, and separated vertically by slightly projecting brick piers or
pilasters topped with stone ziggurat capitals, which are not as large or
tall as those flanking the entry bay. Above the third floor windows is
a wide, unadorned brick entablature topped at the roof line by
contrasting stone caps. The interior features extensive marble and
Art Deco elements of aluminum and chrome.
[i]
The building was designed by Kings & Dixon of Mitchell and Floyd Rosser
of Montrose. Kings & Dixon also designed the Aurora, Davison and Miner
County Courthouses. The building was built by the Huron Construction
Co. of Huron.
History:
McCook
County was established by the territorial legislature in 1873 and was first
organized in 1878.[ii]
The original county seat was located at Cameron in a small building
donated by a local resident. In 1880, a countywide election moved the
county seat to Bridgewater,
where a small courthouse was built. However, in 1882 the residents of
Salem stole the county records and safe from the Bridgewater courthouse
through a door that had been left unlocked by a sympathizer and
thereafter obtained the blessing of the territorial convention to their
claims to be the county seat. In 1884, the county built a small,
two-room courthouse on the same site where the present courthouse is
located. In 1893, that structure was enlarged into a two-story,
wood-frame building with a stone foundation, brick veneer, and an ornate
cupola. In the 1920’s the county established a courthouse sinking fund
and by 1933, when federal assistance became available, the fund
contained $105,000. Sufficient signatures were obtained on petitions to
allow the necessary bonding without an election but there was some
difficulty in selling the bonds. Bids were received both for the brick
building and one constructed of McCook County Quartzite, but the brick
was found to be more economical. Construction was begun in the spring
of 1934 and was completed in December of that year.[iii]
[i]
Carolyn Torma, Building Diversity: A Photographic Survey of
South Dakota Architecture, 1913-1940, South Dakota
Historical Journal 19 (19__), page 184 and United States
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National
Register of Historic Places Registration Form - McCook County
Courthouse (September 1, 1992).
[ii]
SL
1872-1873, ch 16.
[iii]
United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National
Register of Historic Places Registration Form - McCook County Courthouse
(September 1, 1992).
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