Adair County Courthouse
Division St., Stilwell, OKThe Adair County Courthouse is significant because of its importance to the county as a center of government and a depository of official records. It is also particularly significant because it is one of only two courthouses in Oklahoma which utilizes distinctive carved stone depictions of Indian figures and symbols in its design. The other Oklahoma courthouse which is similarly decorated is in Pawnee County. Both counties have a large native Indian population. Both the Adair County Courthouse and the one in Pawnee serve as architectural reminders of Oklahoma's historical identity as "Indian Territory."
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.
The first oil well in Oklahoma was drilled in 1897 in what is now Bartlesville. The discovery of oil in Oklahoma led to a boom in the state's economy, and it quickly became one of the largest oil-producing states in the country.