Life in the Nebraska Sandhills...
A small but steady stream of visitors come to Prairie Bluestem, hoping to find images of the Rock County Courthouse in Bassett, Nebraska. Search engines send them here because I once linked to a photo of the Rock County courthouse as an example of an Art Deco structure.
I came across the above snapshot a few days ago in a box of photos. It was taken about five years ago. It shows the courthouse from a different angle, so it might be interesting to the folks who are seeking info about the building.
According to the Nebraska Historic Building Reconnaissance Report (pdf file):
The first court house built in Rock County was destroyed by a fire in 1899 and the second was torn down to make room for the court house built in 1939. This court house was constructed at a cost to the county of $30,000 with the assistance of a $33,000 Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) grant.
I haven't been inside the Rock County Courthouse for at least 35 years, and I retain only a few, vague memories of the building:
- Sounds echo slightly in the hallways, probably because of the hard stone (?) or ceramic (?) floors.
- I had a macabre fascination with the barred windows of the jail in the basement of the courthouse when I was a child.
- The office of the County Superintendent of Schools in the courthouse had a small library of teacher resources (filmstrips and more). These materials were much appreciated by rural teachers and students.
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