Norton County is named for Orloff Norton, who was captain of Company L fifteenth Kansas cavalry, killed at Cane Hill, Arkansas on October 29, 1865.
Surrounding county Courthouses:
N – Furnas County, Nebraska
E – Phillips County
S – Graham County and Sheridan County
W – Decatur County
Created: March 20, 1873
County Seat:
Norton 1882 – present
County Courthouse – Norton
Location: 101 South Kansas Avenue / East Main Street
Built: 1929 – 1930
Style: Classical Revival
Architect: Cuthbert & Suehrk of Topeka
Contractor: Gurtler & Company of Topeka
Description: The building faces west and is a three story brown colored brick, stone and concrete structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on landscaped grounds of the Courthouse Square in the center of Norton. Along the west front are four large Corinthian columns rising from the second to third story. The entrance has three stone framed doors. The first story has a white colored stone base. There are stone cornice molding supported by stone brackets over each of the entrance doors in the east, west, and south elevations. The roof line is flat with dentillation on the cornice of the raised parapet wall. In the interior, there is a large vestibule on the first story. The County District Court courtroom is located on the west side of the third story and has a large painting of “Justice”. The building houses the County District Court of the 17th Judicial District.
See: The architect, Cuthbert & Suehrk of Topeka, designed courthouses in Bourbon County and Montgomery County.
See: The 17th Judicial District includes Decatur County, Graham County, Osborne County, Phillips County and Smith County.
History: The county was created in 1873 and Norton was selected as the county seat in 1882 when the county was organized. The county used rented premises until 1889. The first courthouse was a two story red colored brick structure built by Kuhn & Walker in Norton in 1888. The building was destroyed by fire on December 1, 1926. The second and present courthouse was constructed in 1929 to 1930 at a cost of $208,576 which included the jail.
County Courthouse – Norton
County District Court courtroom
Picture 1888 County Courthouse
Photos taken 2007, 2010 and 2022
Images 25*