Becker County | US Courthouses

Becker County is named for the lawyer George Loomis Becker, one of the three people elected to Congress in 1857.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Norman County, Mahnomen County and Clearwater County

E – Hubbard County and Wadena County

S – Otter Tail County

W – Clay County

Created: March 18, 1858

County Seat:

Detroit Lakes 1877 – present

County Courthouse – Detroit Lakes

Location: 915 Lake Avenue / Holmes Street West

Built: 1941 – 1942

Style: Modern / Art Deco

Architect: Foss and Company of Fargo, North Dakota in association with Willard E. Randolph of Detroit Lakes

Contractor: Foss and Company of Fargo, North Dakota and Ralph L Bloom of Minneapolis

Description: The building faces west and is a three story Bedford stone and concrete structure. The building is located in the center of Detroit Lakes. The walls are banded with black colored granite that frames the windows and main entrance. A two and a half ton black colored stone eagle perches on a ledge as a reminder of the federal presence and as a symbol of authority. The roof line is flat. In the interior are Art Deco ornamentations and a grand staircase at the main entrance which ascends to the third story. The former County District Court courtroom is located at the center of the third story and is now used as a meeting room. On the north side is the 2008 addition with one County District Court courtroom on the first story and two County District Court courtrooms along the east side the second story with a wide hallway along the west side. The building houses the County District Court of the 7th Judicial District. An addition was constructed in 2007 to 2008. The architect was Lightower Johnson Associates Inc. and the contractor was Roers Construction Inc. of Plymouth. On the south side is the Human Resources Building constructed in 2004 to 2005. The architect was Lightower Johnson Associates Inc. and the contractor was Comstock Construction Inc. of Fergus Falls.

See: The architect Foss Associates Architects also designed courthouses in Becker County, Clay County, Clearwater County and Pennington County and in North Dakota in Billings County, Cavalier County, Morton County and Ramsey County.

See: The 7th Judicial District includes Benton County, Clay County, Douglas County, Mille Lacs County, Morrison County, Otter Tail County, Stearns County, Todd County and Wadena County.

History: The county was created in 1858 and Detroit Lakes was selected as the county seat. The county was organized in 1871 and the first election was held in 1877. The county used rented premises until the first courthouse, a brick structure was built in 1885 by A A Whittemore with foundations built by T J Martin and Marcus Shaw. The second and present courthouse was constructed in in 1941 to 1942 at a cost of approximately $250,000. The cost of the 2004 to 2005 south addition for the Human Resources Building was $737,900.