Adair County Courthouse (Iowa)

Adair County Courthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Location	Iowa Ave. and 1st St. Greenfield, Iowa
Coordinates	41°18′17″N 94°27′35″W / 41.30472°N 94.45972°WCoordinates: 41°18′17″N 94°27′35″W / 41.30472°N 94.45972°W
Built	1891
Architect	S.E. Maxon
Architectural style	Romanesque Revival
Part of	Greenfield Public Square Historic District (#14000623)
MPS	County Courthouses in Iowa TR
NRHP Reference #	81000224 [1]
Added to NRHP	July 2, 1981

The Adair County Courthouse, located in Greenfield, Iowa, United States, was built from 1891-1892. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource.^[1] In 2014 it was included as a contributing property in the Greenfield Public Square Historic District.^[2] The courthouse is the third structure to house county courts and administration offices.

History

The county’s first courthouse was located in Fontanelle from 1856 to 1874. It was a two-story frame building constructed from locally harvested wood. After the county seat moved to Greenfield the building was used as a school, church, meeting hall and town hall until it was destroyed in a fire in 1910. A two-story courthouse was built in Greenfield for $8,000. It was destroyed by fire in 1889 and courthouse functions moved to a nearby opera house until a new structure was completed. The cornerstone for the present courthouse was laid on July 4, 1891. It was constructed of brick in the Romanesque Revival style at a cost of $26,768.^[3]

References

1. National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. Molly Myers Naumann. "Greenfield Public Square Historic District" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-08-01.
3. Stanek, Edward and Jacqueline (1976). Iowa's Magnificent County Courthouses. Des Moines: Wallace-Homestead. p. 8. ISBN 0-87069-189-9.