Scott County is named for Winfield Scott, who was the presiding officer at the signing of the peace treaty ending the Black Hawk War.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Clinton County
E – Rock Island County, Illinois
S – Muscatine County
W – Cedar County and Jones County
Created: December 21, 1837
County Seat:
Davenport 1838 – present
County Courthouse – Davenport
Location: 400 West 4th Street / Scott Street
Built: 1955 – 1956
Style: Modern
Architect: Dougher, Rich & Woodburn
Contractor: Arthur Ebeling Associates.
Description: The building faces south and is a three story aluminum, glass and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Davenport. The older section constructed in 1955 to 1956 is located on the east side. The older section has aluminum siding and the foundation is faced with granite. The former central entrance has stone trim, horizontal windows and a flat roof line. In the interior, there are three courtrooms on the second story and seven courtrooms on the third story. The third story has two large District Court courtrooms located at the center and smaller courtrooms around the outside walls. The building houses the County District Court of the 7th Judicial District and the Magistrate Court. The building was renovated in 1989 to 1999. The new Entrance Pavilion section on the west side was constructed in 2007 to 2008 with the County Jail on the northwest side. The building is a dark blue colored glass structure with flat roof line. The southwest front has a curved entrance with concrete arches. In the interior, the ceilings are high. The architect was Larrison and Associates and the contractor were General Contractors Inc. and Tricon Construction of Dubuque. The County Administration Building is located to the northwest.
Note: In 1956, the courthouse was the first courthouse in the United States to be clad in aluminum.
See: The architect Dougher, Rich & Woodburn of Des Moines also designed courthouse in Buchanan County, Cass County, Humboldt County, Jones County and Kossuth County.
See: The 7th Judicial District includes Cedar County, Clinton County, Jackson County and Muscatine County.
History: The county was created in 1837 and Davenport was selected as the county seat in 1838 when the county was organized. The first courthouse was a two story Greek Revival structure built in 1842 having stately columns and a round cupola. The courthouse was located on Bolivar Square. The second courthouse was a Beaux Arts structure designed by J C Cochrane and John W Ross and built by Lang & Moody in 1886 at a cost of $125,000. The third and present courthouse was constructed in 1955 to 1956 at a cost of $1,480,000. The addition was constructed in 2007 to 2008 at a cost of $29,700,000.
County Courthouse – Davenport
County District Court courtroom
County District Court courtroom
Photos taken 2008 and 2024
Images 18*