Davis County Courthouse - Bloomfield, Iowa - Victorian Style Architecture on Waymarking.com

County of courthouse: Davis County
Location of courthouse: bordered by: US-63, E. Jefferson St., E. Franklin St. & S. Madison St., Bloomfield
Architect: Thomas J. Tolan
Contractor: Larkworthy and Menke of Quincy, Illinois
Built: 1877
Architectural Style: Second Empire

"The Davis County Courthouse is a two story stone-faced building with mansard. It is the central focus of the town square area in Bloomfield. Its dimensions are approximately 97 feet by 87 feet with 16 inch brick walls (faced in Bedford stone), a four-foot thick foundation, and 42 rooms with 20-foot ceilings.

"Prominent features on the exterior are the graduated rectangular plan, the tall bell tower with four-faced clock and life-size statue, roof cresting and roof brackets and the Bedford stone strimmed windows. The bell in the tower- is original and was made in Troy, by the Kimberly Bell Works in 1876. The Seth Thomas Clock, too, shows the date 1876 and still works. The blind goddess figure carries a scale in one hand and sword in the other. Steel tie-rods were inserted into the bell tower in the 1940's to stabilize the wood and copper-coated tin structure.

"It is an excellent example of Victorian architecture with French influence, similar to the Hubbell Mansion of Des Moines, which has been purchased by the State of Iowa." ~ NRHP Nomination Form

Historic Marker ON Site:

1877
Davis County Courthouse

Built in 1877 at a cost of $45,201, the Davis County courthouse is an outstanding example of Second Empire architecture with its distinctive mansard roof and dormer windows.  The structure measures approximately 97 by 87 feet with walls made of red brick covered by a sandstone veneer.  Surmounted by a statue of the "Lady of Justice", the belfry tower raises the total height to over 123 feet.   The tower houses the original 1876 Seth Thomas clock and an immense 1878 Kimberly bell that was also rung in the early days as a fire alarm.  The design was the work of architect T. J. Tolan of Indiana, considered at the time to be the most successful in this style of courthouse.  In continuous use since its construction, the large courtroom seats nearly 300 people on the original walnut chairs and benches.  The basement still contains the cells that were the county and city jails until 1973.  A fence was originally constructed around the courtyard square of the same type that still surrounds the jailhouse windows.  One of the most unusual visitors to view the building was a human fly who succeeded in scaling the outside walls in the early 1930's.  The courthouse has grown to become a familiar symbol of Davis County and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974."