Future Arborists of America, attend! We were doing so well with courthouses up to this point. This one even looked kind of promising. I liked the little bit of towering dome we can see, but someone went and planted trees all over the place and now I can't see a thing! This is another, dare … Continue reading 927. Brookings, Brookings County (SD09) →

From art deco to Neoclassical!  I liked this trend.  Part of me felt that I should say something about the landscaping, but I was beginning to feel the tiredness pressing into my bones.  I had done well over a thousand miles of driving by that point and still had a couple of hours until sunset.  … Continue reading 926. Flandreau, Moody County (SD08) →

After some of the courthouses I’d seen that day, another nice piece of art deco was enjoyable.  I wondered, based on the decorations and embellishments if pioneer deco was a thing (it’s not) but if it wasn’t then maybe Madison’s courthouse had pioneered it.  It also got lucky because the retaining wall around the base … Continue reading 925. Madison, Lake County (SD07) →

As I pulled up in front of the Minnehaha County Courthouse, I was immediately confronted with the old contradiction that I have always faced: do I photograph the current county courthouse, even though it might be boring and banal?  Or do I photograph the old courthouse because it’s more aesthetically pleasing?  Or do I focus … Continue reading 924. Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County (SD06) →

This one makes for my ninth Lincoln County! More than Washington, but less than Jefferson!  That said, good form, Canton!  Your courthouse is a decent synthesis between the old and new courthouses.  I’m sure you could have found a way to fit the new one in with the stucco better than that but it does … Continue reading 923. Canton, Lincoln County (SD05) →

It had been a while since I was in South Dakota and I can’t say that the Turner County Courthouse was a shining welcome for me.  It was modern and they were trying to emulate an older style, but it just fell flat, like they didn’t really know what they wanted architecturally.  It's basically an … Continue reading 922. Parker, Turner County (SD04) →

Seeing the Pierce County Courthouse, Stanton County still fresh on my mind, I started to get that maybe … this … was a style of the time around here.  Maybe if a county “updated” its courthouse, neighboring counties might feel the need to follow suit and all end up with buildings I find suboptimal.  But … Continue reading 921. Pierce, Pierce County (NE38) →

No.  Just NO. Yes, I have seen worse courthouses but, for my own sense of sanity, I’m going to assume that they did the best they could with what they had.  Maybe Stanton is a newer town or maybe they had an older, nicer courthouse and lost it to some kind of natural disaster.  I … Continue reading 920. Stanton, Stanton County (NE37) →

Good form, Colfax County!  This was a nice solid example of Renaissance Revival.  Even better was that I got to photograph it before the patriotic display went up!  Here was a team assembled, pulling poles with flags off a trailer and placing them around the edge of the grounds, about half a dozen men with … Continue reading 919. Schuyler, Colfax County (NE36) →

Butler County, your courthouse has been judged and found wanting.  I’ve obviously seen worse, but you could have done so much better.  Everything I saw coming into town made me think David City was some kind of art enclave, but it was not.  I had hoped that maybe the courthouse would contract that artsy vibe … Continue reading 918. David City, Butler County (NE35) →