Yamhill County Courthouse - McMinnville, Oregon - Courthouses on Waymarking.com

Yamhill County is thought to have been named by an explorer for the local Yamhill (Kalapuya) people who were indigenous to the region. Yamhill was one of the original four districts created by Oregon's first provisional legislature in 1843. The county is a significant producer of Oregon wines, especially Pinot Noir.

At one time Lafayette was the most important town in Yamhill County and became the county seat in 1847. The first courthouse building, purchased in 1850, was originally a county store in LaFayette. In 1857 a fire destroyed that building and most county records. The next courthouse was built in 1858 and remained in use until the county seat moved in 1889 to McMinnville where a new courthouse was built. Water leaks, electrical damage, and ultimately a 1954 fire forced the county to build the current courthouse, on the same site as the previous one, in 1963.

The building no longer serves as an actual court building as judicial functions were transferred to the state district court in 1968. The building now houses county government offices.