Woodson County is named for Daniel Woodson, who was Secretary of the Kansas Territory and Acting Governor; or for Silas Woodson, who a lawyer and politician in St. Joseph, Missouri and was Governor of Missouri.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Coffey County
E – Allen County
S – Wilson County
W – Greenwood County
Created: August 25, 1855 
County Seat:
Neosho Falls 1858 – 1873
Kalida 1873
Neosho Falla 1873
Kalida 1873 – 1874
Defiance 1874 – 1876
Yates Center 1876 – present
County Courthouse – Yates Center
Location: 105 West Rutledge Street / North Main Street
Built: 1899 – 1900
Style: Romanesque
Architect: George P Washburn & Sons of Ottawa
Contractor: J W Brewsler.
Description: The building faces south and is a two story red colored brick, stone and wood Romanesque style structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on the spacious landscaped grounds of the Courthouse Square in the center of Yates Center. The rectangular shaped building is located on the spacious landscaped grounds of the Courthouse Square in the center of Yates Center. The building has a raised limestone block basement. The south front has a small porch on the first story and there are porches on each side. The windows on the second story have stone trimmed arches above. On each corner is a large square brick tower pavilion. On the center of the roof is a square white colored wood cupola with smaller cupola at the top. In the interior, the first story has two long corridors intersecting at the center of the building. On the second story, the County District Court courtroom is located along the south half of the second story and has a high ceiling which is decorated with wood framing in interlocking rectilinear patterns. The building houses the County District Court of the 31st Judicial District.
Note: The architect, George P Washburn & Sons, designed courthouses in Anderson County, Atchison County, Butler County, Chautaugua County, Doniphan County, Franklin County, Harper County, Kingman County, Miami County, and Pratt County, and Beaver County in Oklahoma.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Woodson County Courthouse
See: The 31st Judicial District includes Allen County, Neosho County and Wilson County.
History: The county was created in 1855 and Neosho Falls was selected as the county seat in 1858. In 1873 the county seat was moved to Kalida, then back to Neosho Falls, then back to Kalida and in 1874, moved to Defiance. In 1876, the county seat was moved to Yates Center and Abner Yates purchased a building that was moved from Defiance and placed on the southwest corner of the Courthouse Square which acted as the first courthouse. The second and present courthouse was constructed in 1899 to 1900.
County Courthouse – Yates Center
County District Court courtroom
Photos taken 2009 and 2022