Lincoln County - American Courthouses

Lincoln County is named for Abraham Lincoln, who was a member of Congress from Illinois ( 1847-1849 and President of the United States ( 1861-1865 ).

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – McPherson County and Logan County

E – Custer County and Dawson County

S – Frontier County and Hayes County

W – Perkins County and Keith County

Created: January 7, 1860

County Seat:

North Platte 1871 – present

County Courthouse – North Platte

Location: 301 North Jeffers Street / East 3rd Street

Built: 1921 – 1924 / 1931 – 1932

Style: Beaux Arts

Architect: George A Berlinghof of Beatrice / C Coursey of North Platte

Contractor: McMichael Brothers of North Platte / H R McMichael of North Platte

Description: The building faces west and is a three story dark gold colored brick, stone and concrete structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of North Platte. The building was halted in 1924 for lack of funds and finished in 1931 to 1932. There is a raised basement. The west front has stone columns rising from the second to the third story. The roof line is flat. In the interior, the features include very high grey marble wainscoting, dark grey marble mopboards, terrazzo flooring with a black border, golden oak woodwork, transoms with frosted glass, plaster molding in three patterns, and hanging light fixtures with frosted globes. The County District Court courtroom on the west side of the third story has a high ceiling and retains plaster beams, pilasters and molded cornice and nine large and distinctive wall lights and a further six wall lights. Courtroom woodwork is very dark and features an attractive carved course along the paneled jury box, judge’s bench, and the low swinging doors of the bar between the spectator and trial spaces. The two County Court courtrooms are located on the west and north sides of the second story. The building houses the County District Court and County Court of the 11th Judicial District. The first architect was George Berlinghof of Beatrice and the first contractor was McMichael Brothers of North Platte. In 1931 to 1932 the second architect was C C Corsey and the second contractor was H.R. McMichael. A new one story addition was added on the east side in the 1966 to 1967. In the interior is a long east-west hallway and The Commissioner’s Meeting Room. The architect was Hahn-Dunn-Gardner and the contractor was Musgrove Construction Company. On the north side is the County Law Enforcement Center.

See: The architect, George A Berlinghof of Beatrice, designed courthouses in Colfax County, Franklin County, Greeley County, Howard County, Kearney County, Nemaha County, Seward County and Thayer County; and in Iowa in Crawford County.

See: National Register of Historic Places – Lincoln County Courthouse

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

History: The county was created in 1860 and North Platte was selected as the county seat in 1871 when the county was organized, The first courthouse was built in 1876 and burned in 1923. The second and present courthouse was started in 1921 and stopped in 1924 due to lack of funds. In 1931 construction started again with C C Coursey being hired as architect and H R McMichael hired as contractor for a cost of $55,726. The total cost of construction was $325,000.