National Register Listing

Aurora County Courthouse

Main St. between Fourth and Fifth Sts., Plankinton, SD

The building is historically significant for its role as the symbolic and functional seat of government for Aurora County. Since the building's construction, it has housed virtually all of the county's administrative, operational, and judicial functions, while simultaneously serving as the official repository for county records. The courthouse is the most important single physical element in the historic and contemporary governance of Aurora County, and is an important local visual reminder of the importance of county government.

The Aurora County courthouse is architecturally significant as a representative example of twentieth-century public and institutional architecture in South Dakota. The building's utilization of Art Deco and Moderne design elements is typical of state courthouses constructed during the 1930s. While the building's level of architectural detail is not unusually high, the courthouse remains among the largest and most visually striking examples of architecture in Plankinton and Aurora County.

Aurora County was established by the 1879 Dakota Territorial Legislature, and organized in August, 1881. The town of Plankinton was named the temporary county seat on August 29, 1881, and it won the permanent seat in a November, 1882 election Planning for the county's first permanent courthouse began the following year; the County Commissioner's minute book for May 5, 1883 noted that "a large number of citizens of Plankinton and vicinity came before the commissioners and urged the necessity of building a Court-house at once."

Planning for the new building continued throughout the summer. Site selection for the courthouse proved to be a matter of considerable local interest. Two platted blocks were in contention for the honor, one in the original portion of town and another in "Miracle & Clark's Addition," several blocks to the north. The county was offered either site for free, but when the commissioners insisted that the chosen site be "suitably graded and ornamented by the planting of trees" without cost to the county, the owner of the Original Townsite block backed out. Consequently, Plankinton's courthouse block was developed well north of the community's business district.

The county commissioners engaged Theodore Mix (possibly a local resident) to prepare building plans for the new courthouse. The building Mix designed was typical of mid-western public architecture of the period. The 2 1/2 story rectangular building was marked by flared Mansardic roof, and featured a large The Aurora County Courthouse is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criteria "A" and "C." The building is historically significant for its role as the symbolic and functional seat of government for Aurora County. Since the building's construction, it has housed virtually all of the county's administrative, operational, and judicial functions, while simultaneously serving as the official repository for county records. The courthouse is the most important single physical element in the historic and contemporary governance of Aurora County, and is an important local visual reminder of the importance of county government.

The Aurora County courthouse is architecturally significant as a representative example of twentieth-century public and institutional architecture in South Dakota. The building's utilization of Art Deco and Moderne design elements is typical of state courthouses constructed during the 1930s. While the building's level of architectural detail is not unusually high, the courthouse remains among the largest and most visually striking examples of architecture in Plankinton and Aurora County.
Historical Narrative:

Aurora County was established by the 1879 Dakota Territorial Legislature, and organized in August, 1881. The town of Plankinton was named the temporary county seat on August 29, 1881, and it won the permanent seat in a November, 1882 election Planning for the county's first permanent courthouse began the following year; the County Commissioner's minute book for May 5, 1883 noted that "a large number of citizens of Plankinton and vicinity came before the commissioners and urged the necessity of building a Court-house at once."

Planning for the new building continued throughout the summer. Site selection for the courthouse proved to be a matter of considerable local interest. Two platted blocks were in contention for the honor, one in the original portion of town and another in "Miracle & Clark's Addition," several blocks to the north. The county was offered either site for free, but when the commissioners insisted that the chosen site be "suitably graded and ornamented by the planting of trees" without cost to the county, the owner of the Original Townsite block backed out. Consequently, Plankinton's courthouse block was developed well north of the community's business district.

The county commissioners engaged Theodore Mix (possibly a local resident) to prepare building plans for the new courthouse. The building Mix designed was typical of midwestern public architecture of the period. The 2 1/2 story rectangular building was marked by flared Mansardic roof, and featured a large courthouse to overflowing, and the county was renting a downtown building for additional office space. The commissioners decided to renew their efforts for a new courthouse, and held a second bond election on September 6, 1938. The 1938 bond election amount was only $22,000.00, and perhaps for that reason the issue passed easily. (County records do not reveal whether the lower bond amount reflected increased Federal support for the project, or the adoption of a more economical design for the building.) The First National Bank of Sioux Falls purchased the county's courthouse bonds on October 19, 1938.

Although work on the new Aurora County Courthouse began soon after the bond issuance, initial progress was slow. During the first winter, gravel and rock were hauled to the courthouse site, and a nearby Catholic parish hall was remodeled for use as an interim courthouse during the construction period. (The new courthouse was constructed on the exact site of the 1884 building, and the old courthouse was razed as a Works Progress Administration [WPA) project.) Construction of the new building apparently consumed the better part of a year. Newspaper articles in support of the courthouse project had promised that the building's construction would provide "a maximum amount of hand unskilled labor. .. in form building and mixing cement, also all rock will be gathered in the vicinity and crushed on the job." In all, the project was designed to employ 97 locally-hired laborers for a period of ten months. The courthouse project was designated as Work Projects Administration project #3536.

The courthouse was finally finished in mid-1940, and the building was formally dedicated on July 9th. Over 1,000 county residents toured the courthouse that afternoon and evening. Commenting on the finished structure, a local newspaper correspondent reported:

The new building is a credit to any county and the people who looked it over Tuesday were all more than pleased with it and surprised to find such a fine structure built with practically unskilled labor... • Everything about the courthouse radiates excellent workmanship, without elegance or extravagance. It was built for utility."

The building, little-changed from 1940, continues to serve as the Aurora County courthouse in 1992.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1993.