Renville County Courthouse and Jail

Renville County Courthouse and Jail
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Renville County Courthouse from the south
Location	Olivia, Minnesota
Coordinates	44°46′34″N 94°59′0″W / 44.77611°N 94.98333°WCoordinates: 44°46′34″N 94°59′0″W / 44.77611°N 94.98333°W
Area	2.54 acres (1.03 ha)
Built	1902
Architect	Orff, Fremont D. (courthouse architect); Kinney, Frank W. (jail architect); Olsen, O. H. (builder)
Architectural style	Late Victorian
NRHP Reference #	86001281[1]
Added to NRHP	June 13, 1986

The Renville County Courthouse and Jail is a historic building located at 500 East DePue Avenue in Olivia, Minnesota, United States; the seat of Renville County. It was constructed in 1902.

The first courthouse in Renville County was built in Beaver Falls in 1872. It was originally built as a jail, at a cost of $2000. In 1889 a 40-by-60-foot (12 m × 18 m) wood frame building was built, and the 1872 building was again used as the jail. In 1895 the city of Olivia won a battle to become the county seat, and court business was held in a local business building. A court decision returned the county seat to Beaver Falls for two years, but then Olivia finally won the county seat permanently in 1900. Architect Fremont D. Orff from Minneapolis designed the building, which was built at a cost of $88,000. The building has influences from a few different architectural styles. The corner pavilions and the central tower have segmented blue-green copper domes, suggesting Second Empire architecture. The center pavilion has a porch with balusters, fluted columns, and an oculus-pierced pediment, which reflects Georgian architecture.^[2]

The courthouse and jail were added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 13, 1986.

References

1. National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. "Building Location Details: Renville County Courthouse". Retrieved 2012-11-26.