Eau Claire County is named for the French words meaning “clear water”.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Chippewa County
E – Clark County
S – Jackson County, Trempealeau County and Buffalo County
W – Pepin County and Dunn County
Created: October 6, 1856
County Seat:
Eau Claire 1856 – present
County Courthouse – Eau Claire
Location: 721 Oxford Avenue / Lake Street
Built: 1951 – 1953
Style: Modern
Architect: Childs & Smith of Chicago, Illinois
Contractor: L C Arnold Construction of Eau Claire.
Description: The building faces west and is a three story stone, glass and concrete structure. The building forms the center of the complex located on landscaped grounds in the center of Eau Claire. The building is faced with buff colored stone. The roof line is flat. In the interior the County Board Room is located on the east side of the first story. There are seven County Circuit courtrooms located on the second story. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 10th Judicial District. An addition was added on the south side in 1973. A further addition was added on the north side in 1988 with architect Ayers Associates and contractor P C Maron Construction Inc. A further addition was added in 1993. The building was remodeled in 2013. The architects were Venture Architects and SDS Architects and the contractor was Market and Johnson Inc.
See: The 10th Judicial District includes Ashland County, Barron County, Bayfield County, Burnett County, Chippewa County, Douglas County, Dunn County, Polk County, Rusk County, Saint Croix County, Sawyer County and Washburn County.
History: The county was created in 1856 and Eau Claire was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a wood frame structure on the Emery side of the Courthouse Square (Wilson Park). The second courthouse was designed by E Townsend Mix and built at Grand Street and Oxford Street in 1873 to 1877. The first courthouse was moved and became the Binder House Hotel until torn down in 1953. The Third and present courthouse was constructed in 1951 to 1953.
County Courthouse – Eau Claire
County Board Room
County Circuit Court courtroom
Photos taken 2007, 2008 and 2022
Images 20*