Todd County Courthouse (Minnesota) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Todd County Courthouse |
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Todd County Courthouse, Sheriff's House, and Jail
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The Todd County Courthouse from the northwest
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 Location in Minnesota
Location in the United States
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| Location | 215 1st Avenue South, Long Prairie, Minnesota |
| Area | 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) |
| Built | 1883 (courthouse), 1900 (sheriff's house & jail) |
| Architect | Charles H. Sparks, P.J. Pauley & Sons |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| NRHP reference No. | 85001986 |
| Designated | September 5, 1985 |
The Todd County Courthouse is an important building in Long Prairie, Minnesota. It's where the local government for Todd County does its work. This old building was built way back in 1883. It sits on top of a hill, and a cool stone entrance was added in 1938 by a group called the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
Next to the main courthouse, there used to be a house for the sheriff and a jail. These were built in 1900. While they were there in 1985 when the courthouse complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places, they have since been taken down. The whole property is special because it shows off a great example of Italianate architecture and has been a key place for county government for a long time.
Contents
What the Courthouse Looks Like
The Todd County Courthouse is about 60 feet wide and 80 feet long. It has an extra part at the back. The building has three floors and a small dome on top called a cupola. The bottom part is made of stone, and the walls are made of light-colored bricks.
The courthouse stands on a hill in the middle of a city block. A stone wall goes around two sides of the property. On the north side, there's a stone entrance that leads to the basement. It also has two stairways that go up to the main entrance on the hilltop.
The old sheriff's house and jail were a two-story brick building with a sloped roof. The jail part had its own entrance and was also connected to the courthouse.
A Look at the Courthouse's History
The Todd County Courthouse built in 1883 is actually the third government building on the same spot. Todd County started in 1867. At first, government work happened in different private homes. Then, in 1870, a wooden building on a hill in Long Prairie was given to the county to use as a courthouse.
Just three years later, in 1873, a new two-story wooden courthouse was built specifically for the county.
Ten years after that, in 1883, officials decided to build the courthouse you see today. They hired an architectural company from St. Louis and an architect named Charles H. Sparks. It's not clear who designed exactly what, but the building ended up in the popular Italianate style of that time. The whole project cost $20,000.
Around 1900, another architect was hired. He changed the sheriff's living area at the back of the courthouse into regular offices. It's thought that he also designed the separate sheriff's house and jail that were built then, but we don't know for sure. Small, one-story additions were made to the front corners of the building between 1910 and 1915.
The courthouse complex was changed again in the 1930s. This was during the Great Depression, and the county got money from the government's New Deal programs to create jobs. A team from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made the courthouse basement bigger. They also built a fancy stone entrance with doors at street level and stairs going up to the original entrance. They replaced the wall at the bottom of the hill, added a small entry room to the front of the courthouse, changed the windows, and redid the inside walls. More buildings were added next to the courthouse hill in 1965 and 1980.
Saving the Old Courthouse
In 1994, people thought the old courthouse wasn't good enough anymore. One reason was that it didn't follow the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which helps people with disabilities. A new court building opened in 1996, and most county offices moved out by 2004. Even though a grant helped replace the roof and some windows, the old courthouse was completely empty by 2006.
The building was only used for storage. So, in 2009, the Todd County board of commissioners (the group that runs the county) decided the courthouse needed to be fixed up or torn down. The next year, they asked people in the county to vote on it. This made a group called the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota put the courthouse on its "10 Most Endangered Historic Places" list for 2010.
A study showed that the courthouse was strong. But fixing it up would cost about the same as tearing it down and building a new one. People who wanted to save the building wrote letters to newspapers. They also asked local leaders and owners of old farms to write letters of support. The vote happened in November 2010, and the plan to save the courthouse passed by less than 100 votes!
Work to fix up the courthouse started in late summer of 2011. They added a ramp, an elevator, and modern restrooms to help with accessibility. The arched windows were fixed, and the brickwork was cleaned and repaired. The inside was changed, but original parts like the terrazzo floors (a type of mosaic floor) and old vault doors were kept. New improvements included modern electricity and a geothermal heat pump (a system that uses the earth's temperature to heat and cool the building).
The historic Todd County Courthouse reopened in June 2012. It's one of only 12 courthouses built before 1890 that are still standing in Minnesota. Now, it holds offices for several government groups, like the county administrator, tax assessor, and the board of commissioners.
Images for kids
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The 1883 courthouse and 1938 WPA entry
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One of the modern annexes built into the foot of the courthouse hill
