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Warren County Courthouse

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1938–1939, Karl Keffer and Earl E. Jones. Courthouse Square, corner of S. Burton and E. Salem streets
  • Warren County Courthouse (David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim)

The second Warren County Courthouse, designed by Charles A. Dunham and constructed between 1866 and 1868, was a particularly strong example of the Italianate and French Second Empire styles. The front elevation of this brick and stone-trimmed building was composed of two square towers with high mansard roofs, between which was a three-story pediment with a group of three elongated round-arched windows. The accentuated verticality of the composition, especially that of the central gabled section and its fenestration, came close to suggesting that the building housed a religious institution, not a civil one. Regrettably the building was not well maintained over the years, and because of serious structural problems it was demolished in 1938.

The third county courthouse was funded by a bond issue, plus funds provided by the PWA. The new building is a traditional example of thirties PWA Moderne. The visitor is greeted by a central pavilion articulated by six fluted pilasters, each rendered as a flat surface and without any base or capital. The wings on each side are of brick, with central panels of light-colored Bedford limestone.

Writing Credits

Author: 
David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim
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Data

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Citation

David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim, "Warren County Courthouse", [Indianola, Iowa], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/IA-01-CE235.

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