Elk County Courthouse - Howard, KS
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 37° 28.189 W 096° 15.718
14S E 742136 N 4150513
This courthouse built in 1906, devastating fire in 1906, rebuilt in 1909. See historic link inside for views of each version
Waymark Code: WMNG02
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 03/09/2015
Views: 1
County of courthouse: Elk County
Location of courthouse: 127 N. Pine St., Howard
Phone: (620) 374-2490
Architect: George E. McDonald
Contractor: Morse Contracting Co.
"The Elk County Courthouse was designed by architect George E. McDonald and constructed by Morse Contracting of Topeka in 1907. The two-story (with raised basement) brick building is a combination of popular late 19th and early 20th-century architectural styles including Richardsonian Romanesque and Italian Renaissance. It occupies the central portion of a full square block that is one street east of the main business district in Howard, Kansas. Pine Street is to the west of the courthouse, Washington Street is to the north, Cedar Street is to the east, and Randolph Street is on the south. There is a 1959 freestanding jail building (non-contributing) located east of the courthouse along Cedar Street.
"The west (front) elevation features a central entrance located at the base of the clock tower. It includes a large round-arch opening with a modern glass vestibule and topped by a short limestone projection. Above the entrance on the upper floor is a pair of one-over-one, double-hung windows set within a single raised brick round-arch opening. Projecting above the roof, the lower half of the tower includes a recently installed electric clock with four faces. Each of the four sides of the upper half of the tower includes a single round-arch opening where a bell or chimes would have been located. However, when the courthouse was erected in 1907, there were not sufficient funds to purchase a clock. The county waited nearly 100 years before installing a clock in 2006.
"Elk County is located in south central Kansas near the Oklahoma border. The county's population in 2000 according to the United States census was 3,261. The major towns located in the county are Grenola, population 274, Howard (the county seat) population 740, Longton, population 399, and Moline, population 418. The main thoroughfares through the county are Highway 160 running east and west and Highway 99 running north and south." ~ NRHP Nomintation Form
Historic link to photo versions of the courthouse: Courthouse History