Mille Lacs County is named for the French words meaning “thousand lakes”.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Aitkin County
E – Kanabec County and Isanti County
S – Sherburne County
W – Benton County, Morrison County and Crow Wing County
Created: May 23, 1857
County Seat:
Princeton 1857 – 1920
Milaca 1920 – present
County Courthouse – Milaca
Location: 525 2nd Street SE / 5th Avenue SE
Built: 1922 – 1923
Style: Classical Revival
Architect: Croft & Boener Inc. of Minneapolis
Contractor: J A MacDonald Construction of Minneapolis
Description: The building faces north and is a two story limestone structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Milaca. The building has a raised basement and has a projecting center section with doorway on the first story. Above the doorway is a small iron balcony and large window. The roof line is flat. The interior has black colored banded terrazzo floors and prairie school geometrics in the leaded glass of the skylight above the octagonal atrium. Iron grillwork, in which the initials “ML” have been cast, covers the glass entry door. The monogram is repeated in the decorative iron railing of the marble steps that rise from the front door to the first level and continue, reversing their angle to the second story. Red wood paneling and other woodwork is used throughout the building. The former County District Court courtroom is located on the east side of the second story. The building was renovated in 1978. The architect was Johnson – Forberg Associates of Minneapolis and the contractor was Lunn Construction Company of Milaca.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Mille Lacs County Courthouse
County Justice Center – Milaca

Location: 225 6th Avenue SE / 2nd Street SE
Built: 2008 – 2010
Style: Modern
Architect: Vetter Johnson Architects of Minneapolis
Contractor: Contegrity Group Inc. of Little Falls
Description: The building faces west and is a two story gray colored concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Milaca on the south side of the courthouse. The west front has an entrance with glass panel section rising to the flat roof line. On the south side is a two story rectangular section. In the interior the corridors run east-west. The County District Court courtrooms are located along the south side of the second story. The building houses the County District Court of the 7th Judicial District.
See: The 7th Judicial District includes Becker County, Benton County, Clay County, Douglas County, Morrison County, Otter Tail County, Stearns County, Todd County and Wadena County.
History: The county was created in 1857 and Princeton was sel;ected as the county seat. However court continued to meet in Sauk Rapids in Benton County. The first courthouse in Princeton was designed by H R Hamilton and built by W F Chadbourn in 1888 at a cost of $10,000. The courthouse was torn down in 1945. The county seat was moved to Milaca in 1920. The second and present courthouse was constructed in 1922 to 1923 at a cost of $150,000. The County Justice Center was constructed in 2008 to 2010 at a cost of 9,400,000.

County Courthouse – Milaca








Former County District Court courtroom






County Justice Center – Milaca




Pictures of Courtroom 2 courtsey of Mile Lacs County District Court

County District Court courtroom







Photos taken 2008, 2019 and 2022