Leavenworth County Courthouse, Leavenworth, Kansas - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The Leavenworth County Courthouse is a Classical Revival style, three-story masonry structure that occupies a full square block that is several blocks south of the Leavenworth, Kansas historic business district. The primary façade faces south onto Walnut Street. The courthouse has a rectangular plan and measures approximately 200 feet wide by 70 feet deep by 70 feet high. On the south side of the courthouse at the primary entrance is a World War I memorial that rests on a rough-cut stone base. On the northwest side of the courthouse is a small obelisk.

The courthouse walls are cut limestone masonry units laid in running bond with a rusticated limestone foundation and limestone quoins. The limestone walls, in some instances, face the soft brick walls that remained after the fire destroyed the earlier 1870s courthouse. Projecting limestone sills define the first- and second-floor windowsills. A restrained cornice and parapet delineate the roofline of the flat roof. Two-story pedimented porticos define the primary entrances on the north and south facades, and one-story porticos with flat roofs define the side entrances on the east and west facades. Except for the replacement of window and door units and the reconfiguration of the second floor, the courthouse retains the majority of its original exterior and interior features. Erected in 1911-1913 as a county courthouse, the structure continues to serve as a county courthouse.

Metal-clad windows replace the original, wood window units. Based on photographic evidence, they mimic the original system that included, on the second story, a central, one-over-one light, double-hung sash flanked by narrow, single-pane sidelights with a transom spanning the width of the three windows. An opaque panel covers the transom. On the first story, arched windows repeat the configuration, with a fan light instead of a transom and a central, one-over-one light, double-hung arched window instead of a rectangular unit. Panels cover the fan light. The first-floor windows have restrained semi-circular heads that enrich the projecting stringcourse. Limestone masonry encloses the rectangular ground-floor windows.

The courthouse features an entrance on each façade, with the primary entrance on the south façade. A grand staircase, flanked by torchers, accesses a two-story, pedimented portico with Ionic columns on the south and north façades. The entablatures of the limestone pediments are inscribed with “Leavenworth County Court House”. Smaller, one-story, one-bay porticos with flat roofs supported by Tuscan columns define the east and west entrances, which also feature a grand staircase. Metal frame, storefront doors replaced the original entrance doors, and opaque panels enclose the semi-circular door transoms. The openings are unaltered.

The floor plan space uses of the Leavenworth County Courthouse are typical of many Kansas courthouses built during the same time period. The distinguishing feature of the courthouse is its central rotunda, which is open to the first and second floors and is crowned with a stained-glass dome. A grand staircase at the primary (south) façade of the courthouse serves each floor, which has north-south corridors. The ground floor is partially below grade and accessed by an exterior door at the rear of the building. The first floor, which houses the main offices such as the county clerk and register of deeds, is accessed by each of the four entrances.

The interior finishes are also typical of many Kansas courthouses built during the same time period. Interior finishes include terrazzo flooring, marble wainscoting, oak doors and trim, plaster walls and ceilings, scagliola columns, and an iron and marble staircase with marble treads. Original light fixtures are also in use throughout the building.