-Photo courtesy Webster County Historical Society
The original Webster County Courthouse was built around 1859-1860. It was replaced by the current building, which was completed and dedicated in 1902.

The original Webster County Courthouse was built on the same site where today’s courthouse stands. It served its purpose for about 40 years before being replaced.

In addition to its official functions, the courthouse provided space for entertainment.

An editorial in the Oct. 12, 1893, Fort Dodge Times raised the issue of a new courthouse. The suggestion had been made to sell the land to a private investor and build a new courthouse at another location. The editorial brought up the condition under which the county acquired the land:

“The sale of the present site is an impossibility. The ground was conveyed to Webster county by Jesse Williams in consideration of one dollar, to be used for a courthouse and jail, and for no other purpose, the conveyance specifying ‘and all the title conveyed hereby to revert to the said grantor upon the failure of the grantee to use said property for the purposes herinafter specified.'”

By July 1900, plans were underway to build a new courthouse on the current site. That building was dedicated on Sept. 12, 1902.