art deco | US Courthouses

Natrona County is named for the natron or soda that is produced in the region and the Spanish “Natrona” means “soda”.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Washakie County and Johnson County

E – Converse County

S – Cabron County

W – Fremont County

Created: March 9, 1888
County Seat:

Casper 1888 – present

County Courthouse – Casper

Location: 200 North Center Street / West B Street

Built: 1938 – 1940
Style: Art Deco
Architect: Goodrich & Krusmark
Contractor: Rugnstad & Olsen and John W Howard

Description: The building faces east and is two story white colored limestone and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Casper. The east front has vertical windows with a central entrance on the first story. The lower north and south wings project from the main building. The roof line is flat. The interior has terrazzo floors and marble walls. The entry hall is wide and accesses the north, south and west corridors. Ornate bronze elevator doors depict farming and ranching on the first story and tipis and other Native American symbols on the second story. The stairways on either side of the entry ascend to the second story former courtroom which is now the Commissioners Room. The two sets of double courtroom doors are decorated with hand-carved leather panels consisting of squares of intricate foliate designs with borders decorated with local brands. The building is connected to the Hall of Justice on the west side by skywalks. The building was renovated in 2009 to 2010 during the construction of the County Justice Center.

Hall of Justice – Casper

Location: 201 North David Street / West A Street

Built: 1976 – 1977
Style: Modern
Architect: R W Schopfer
Contractor: Wyoming Johnson, Inc.

Description: The building faces west and is a five story brick, concrete and glass structure. The building is located in the center of Casper on the west side of the courthouse. The building has projecting corner sections and center sections. The windows are framed and the roof line is flat. There is a skywalk to the courthouse on the second story of the east side.

County Justice Center – Casper

Location: 115 North Center Street / East 1st Street

Built: 2009 – 2010

Style: Modern

Architect: GSG Architects and Reilly Johnson Architecture

Contractor: Caspar / Pope Joint Venture Construction

Description: The building faces west and is a five story red colored brick, concrete and glass structure. The building is located in the center of Casper on the southeast side of the courthouse. The building incorporates the old five story Townsend Hotel purchased in 2007 and designed by Garbutt, Weidner & Sweeney and constructed in 1923. The roof lines are flat and the buildings are named as the Natrona County Townsend Justice Center. The old hotel section is on the south side and the interior has the remaining original marble stairs. The new north section has a long entrance hall on the first story. The buildings contain seven courtrooms which house the District Court and Circuit Court of the 7th Judicial District.

History: The county was created in 1890 and Casper was selected as the county seat. The county occupied two rooms on the second story of Robert White’s saloon on Center Street and court was held in the Town Hall, a two story brick structure built in 1890 on Center Street which had a large central hall. The first county building was a jail built in 1893. In 1895, the first courthouse was a two story frame structure built on the west side of David Street by W F McMillen at a cost of $227 with E Erben as carpenter at a cost of $250. The second courthouse was a two story structure designed by C A Randall of Casper and built by Schmidt & Esmay of Douglas on Center Street at A Street in 1909 to 1910 at a cost of $44,274. The third and present courthouse was constructed in 1938 to 1940. The Hall of Justice was constructed in 1976 to 1977. The Justice Center was constructed in 2009 to 2010 at a cost of $21,600,000.