Frontier County - American Courthouses

Frontier County is named for the county’s location on the Nebraska frontier at that time.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Lincoln County and Dawson County

E – Gosper County

S – Furnas County, Red Willow County and Hitchcock County

W – Hayes County

Created: January 17, 1872

County Seat:

Stockville 1873 – present

County Courthouse – Stockville

Location: 1 Wellington Street / Nebraska Avenue

Built: 1888 – 1889

Style: Federal

Architect: Sebastian Binger

Contractor: Sebastian Binger

Description: The building faces west and is a two story white colored wood frame structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Stockville. The west front has a central entrance on the first story with a canopy above. The roof is hipped. On the north side is a one story addition. In the interior, the hallway runs east-west with wood stairs ascending on the east side to the second story. The combined County District Court and County Court courtroom is located on the west side of the second story. The building houses the County District Court and County Court of the 11th Judicial District.

Note: It is believed that the courthouse was the last courthouse in the nation to get indoor plumbing and to have a paved road to connect it to the rest of the national infrastructure. Now the outhouse is used just for the park at the courthouse square. Before the plumbing came, there were never any women to serve on juries in the county; it was thought to be too big of an inconvenience to the women of the county to use the outhouse.

See: The courthouse is the only wood courthouse in Nebraska. In Montana there are two wood courthouses located in Carter County and Daniels County.

See: The 11th Judicial District includes Arthur County, Chase County, Dawson County, Dundy County, Furnas County, Gosper County, Hayes County, Hitchcock County, Hooker County, Keith County, Lincoln County, Logan County, McPherson County, Perkins County, Red Willow County and Thomas County.

History: The county was created in 1872 and Stockville was selected as the county seat in 1873. The county rented “Woods Store Room” for $5 a month until the first courthouse was built by W L McClary in 1883. The courthouse burned on February 27, 1883. The second and present courthouse was constructed in 1888 at a cost of $3,400.