Stutsman County Courthouse west wing marks 100th anniversary in Jamestown
The west wing of Jamestown’s 1883 courthouse turned 100 as Memorial Day programming and a major renovation kept the landmark active.
People walking past 504 Third Ave. SE are crossing a century of Stutsman County history in the west wing alone. Added in 1926 to the 1883 courthouse, the wing marks 100 years as part of North Dakota’s oldest surviving courthouse, a Jamestown landmark that still carries the weight of county memory.
The original building was designed by Wisconsin architect Henry C. Koch and completed in less than a year. It stands as one of only two county courthouses in North Dakota built in the Gothic Revival style, and it holds what the State Historical Society of North Dakota describes as the most complete collection of pressed tin in the state and perhaps the Midwest. The same agency also calls it the only remaining North Dakota building directly tied to the activities of the 1880s statehood movement.
The west wing came later, with architect Gilbert R. Horton credited for the 1926 addition. That detail matters because the building’s story is not frozen in the 19th century. It shows how the courthouse grew with Stutsman County as Jamestown matured from territorial-era politics into a modern county seat, even after county offices moved to 511 2nd Ave. SE, where the Stutsman County Southeast Judicial District now lists its clerk of district court, sheriff’s office and state’s attorney.
The historic site was acquired by the State Historical Society in 1987 and remains open to the public as the Stutsman County Courthouse State Historic Site. In downtown Jamestown, it still serves as more than a preservation project. A Decoration Day ceremony was held at 2 p.m. Saturday in the courtroom, connecting the building to the 1884 formation of Jamestown’s William H. Seward Post No. 65 of the Grand Army of the Republic and to a long civic tradition that reaches well beyond county borders.
The centennial also comes as the site undergoes major renovation work funded entirely by the estate of longtime Jamestown resident George Spangler. The project includes a new roof, a new HVAC system and a clock tower observation deck, work intended to keep the courthouse ready for another generation of visitors. For a building that has outlasted the county’s shift in offices, the west wing’s 100th anniversary is another reminder that Jamestown’s past still lives at the center of town.
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