Cedar County is named for the abundance of cedar trees In the region.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – St. Clair County
E – Polk County
S – Dade County
W – Barton County and Vernon County
Created: February 14, 1845
County Seat:
Crow’s Mill 1845 – 1846
Stockton 1846 – present
County Courthouse – Stockton
Location: 113 South Street / Jackson Street
Built: 1939 – 1940
Style: Art Deco
Architect: James D Marshall and M Dwight Brown of Kansas City
Contractor: W F Edgell and Son of Leavenworth
Description: The building faces east and is a two story monolithic poured concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Stockton. The building has a raised basement. The east front has a projecting center section with three vertical openings for the center entrance and windows. There are decorative panels between the windows. The roof line is flat. In the interior there is a central dual staircase ascending to the second story. The large County Circuit Court courtroom is located along the east side of the second story. There is a small courtroom on the south side of the first story. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 28th Judicial Circuit. This was a Works Projects Administration project. Hare and Hare, landscape consultants, assisted with the plan. On the west side is a three story addition.
See: The 28th Judicial Circuit includes Barton County, Dade County and Vernon County.
History: The county was created in 1845 and Crow’s Mill was selected as the county seat. The county seat was then moved to Stockton ( Fremont ) in i846. The first courthouse was a house purchased from Samuel Moore in 1847. The second courthouse was a brick structure built by Dozier C Gill, Isaac Ragan and A M Long in 1852 at a cost of $5,500 and Benjamin H Cravens was the superintendent. M C White was hired to complete the building at a cost of $3,000. The courthouse was destroyed during the Civil War on October 5, 1863 and the county had no courthouse for four years. The third courthouse was a two story brick structure built in 1867 under the supervision of B Davis at a cost of $10,000. In 1868, James A Cogle supervised repairs to the building. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 1939 to 1940 at a cost of $112,600.
County Courthouse – Stockton
County Circuit Court courtroom
County Circuit Court small courtroom
Picture 1867 County Courthouse
Photos taken 2009 and 2023
Images 21*