Woodbury County is named for Levi Woodbury, who was a governor of New Hampshire, United States Secretary of the Navy, United States Secretary of the Treasury and Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Plymouth County and Cherokee County
E – Ida County
S – Monona County
W – Thurston County, Nebraska, Dakota County, Nebraska and Union County, South Dakota
Created: January 15, 1851
County Seat:
Sioux City 1856 – present
County Courthouse – Sioux City
Location: 620 Douglas Street / 7th Street
Built: 1915 – 1918
Style: Classical Revival
Architect: William LaBarthe Steele and George Grant Elmslie and William Gray Pucell both of Minneapolis
Contractor: Splady, Albee & Smith
Description: The building faces west and is a ten story buff colored Roman brick and granite structure. The building is located in the center of Sioux City. The west entrance has a large square brick arch with sculptured figures representing the Spirit of Law. The main building rises five stories. In the center is a multi-story tower rising 157 feet. The interior is decorated with murals by John W. Norton and has a skylight. The entrance leads into a large rotunda. The floors are a rich buff colored quartzite tile, the walls and piers Roman brick with great plastered spaces holding vivid mural paintings framed and enriched with delicately modeled cream colored terra cotta, which, in its turn, is made sparkling with colored inlays of glass mosaic. There are four principal County District Court courtrooms on the second story, each located in one of the building’s corners plus a small courtroom at the west center on the second story. They are fully equipped with all the necessary subsidiary rooms for the judge, bailiff, attorneys, and witnesses. Each courtroom has a large beautiful skylight for letting in the maximum amount of daylight. The court rooms are splendid. There is an air of dignified serenity and peace about them. The eye is soothed by the pleasant color scheme which runs from the black and gold marble, through the warm brown of the brick and the blue of the metal work to a quiet silvery gray on the seats and desks. The lighting fixtures are beautiful in their design. The building houses the County District Court of the 3B Judicial District. On the north side id the County Law Enforcement Center constructed in 1985 to 1986 and which houses several courtrooms. The architect was Dana Larsen Roubal and Associates and the contractor was Chris Hansen Construction Company.
See: The architect William LaBarthe Steele also designed the courthouse in Charles Mix County, South Dakota
See: National Register of Historic Places – Woodbury County Courthouse
See: The 3B Judicial District includes Crawford County, Ida County, Monona County, Plymouth County and Sioux County.
History: The county was created in 1851 and Sioux City was selected as the county seat in 1856 when the county was organized. Judge John C Cook contracted to build a courthouse for $848.08, but only the foundations were laid. The first courthouse was designed by William L Foster and constructed by Charles E Hedges and D T Hedges in 1878 at a cost of $75,000. The second and present courthouse was constructed in 1915 to 1918.
County Courthouse – Sioux City
County District Court courtroom
County District Court small courtroom
County Law Enforcement Center – Sioux City
Photos taken 2008 and 2023
Images 33*