How our Courthouse Came to Be

PART 4 of 4 – An examination of architecture
  • The pediment above the colossal Corinthian columns of the north portico. “Dentils” (small repeating blocks for ornamentation) run above and below it, “Triglyphs” (the four small blocks with grooves) anchor the triangular gable, and within the triangle is a terra cotta sculpture with interesting figures.
    The pediment above the colossal Corinthian columns of the north portico. “Dentils” (small repeating blocks for ornamentation) run above and below it, “Triglyphs” (the four small blocks with grooves) anchor the triangular gable, and within the triangle is a terra cotta sculpture with interesting figures.
  • How our Courthouse Came to Be
    How our Courthouse Came to Be

    After about a decade of controversy, Pawnee County had a new courthouse. Begun in the Spring of 1911, and finished in 1912, it cost $85,000. The architect was W. F. Gernandt and Company of Fairbury, Nebraska, who designed ours and 9 other Nebraska courthouses between 1910 and 1923.

    As we who live here visit the courthouse to renew license plates, pay property taxes, or record a deed, we enter the b…