Iron County is named for the large deposits of iron in the county.
Surroundinf County Courthouses:
N – Houghton County and Baraga County
E – Marquette County and Dickinson County
S – Florence County, Wisconsin, Forest County, Wisconsin and Vilas County, Wisconsin
W – Gogebic County and Ontonagon County
Created: April 3, 1885 
County Seat:
Iron River 1885 – 1889
Crystal Falls 1889 – present
County Courthouse – Crystal Falls
Location: 2 South 6th Street / Superior Avenue
Built: 1890 – 1891
Style: Richardsonian Romanesque Revival
Architect: J C Clancy of Wisconsin
Contractor: Louis A Webber
Description: The building faces east and is a three story buff colored brick and granite structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Crystal Falls. The building has a large arch with recessed doorway on the first story. Above the arch are six narrow vertical windows. At the roof line is a large white colored statue of “Law, Mercy and Justice”. On the northeast corner is a high square brick clock tower with an octagonal top containing the clock. On the southeast corner is a smaller round brick tower. In the interior, there is an elegant staircase featuring an oak balustrade with pointed newel posts. On the second story is the large courtroom which has an octagonal high domed-shaped ceiling of decorative pressed metal and a large chandelier with muses and dragons. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 41st Judicial District, County District Court and County Probate Court. A wing was added in 1955. The architect was Pero Brandy and the contractor was Clocerdale Contracting Company. The building was renovated in 2003 to 2004 when a new wing was constructed. The architect was STS Consultants and the contractor was Miron Construction of Neenah, Wisconsin. Ron Schmidt was the superintendent.
Note: The “Stealing of the Courthouse” has been the topic of many a conversation and article. It is somewhat difficult to separate the fact from fiction. Most versions of the story agree that a poker game was arranged to follow a board of supervisors meeting in the temporary courthouse. The game was at its height at the Old Boyington Hotel. Two Crystal Falls, men, Frank Scadden and Bert Hughitt, left the game pretending to go upstairs to bed. Instead, the sneaked out and back to the temporary courthouse. Treasurer Hughitt cleared the safe of all county records, loaded them on a sled and took them to the railyard where they were loaded into a boxcar. The two men took the records to Stager, the oldest station in the County, and then they were put into safe keeping – some say in hollow pine trees, other in the Mastodon Mine.
See: The 41st Judicial District includes Dickinson County
History: The county was created in 1885 and Iron River was selected as the county seat. In 1885, a wood shack served as the first courthouse. The county seat was moved to Crystal Falls in 1889. The second and present courthouse was constructed in 1890 to 1891 at a cost of $40,000.
See: Michigan’s County Courthouses by John Fedynsky
County Courthouse – Crystal Falls
County Courthouse Addition 1955 – Crystal Falls
Photos taken 2007 and 2015