Norman County is named in honor of the large number of Norwegians or Normans, who settled in the country and in the county.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Polk County
E – Mahnomen County
S – Becker County and Clay County
W – Cass County, North Dakota and Traill County, North Dakota
Created: February 17, 1881 
County Seat:
Ada 1881 – present
County Courthouse – Ada
Location: 16 East Third Avenue / 2nd Street East
Built: 1903 – 1904
Style: Richardsonian Romanesque Revival
Architect: Omeyer and Thori of Saint Paul
Contractor: Olaf Swenson of Saint Paul
Description: The building faces north and is a two story red-brown colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Ada, The building is 90 feet by 90 feet, and the pressed red-brown colored brick building is accented by sandstone. There is a tall square, central tower with peaked corner pavilions and a gabled central section with wide arched windows at the second level. In the interior are marble wainscoting, granite steps in the front entry, the high central rotunda and the 15 foot ceilings. The central rotunda rises to a dome under the tower and has railings around the second floor opening. The County District Court courtroom is located on the west side of the second story. The building houses the County District Court of the 9th Judicial District. In 1975, a 500 foot by 80 foot building of similar brick was added to the south rear of the original structure as the County Office Building. The architect was Koehnlein Lightowler Johnson Inc. of Fargo and Twin City Construction Company of Fargo. In 1994, the building was remodeled and a further addition constructed. The architect was Michael J Burns Architect Ltd. of Moorhead and the contractor was Minko Construction Inc. of Fargo.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Norman County Courthouse
See: The 9th Judicial District includes Aitkin County, Beltrami County, Cass County, Clearwater County, Crow Wing County, Hubbard County, Itasca County, Kittson County, Koochiching County, Lake of the Woods County, Mahnomen County, Marshall County, Pennington County, Polk County, Red Lake County and Roseau County.
History: The county was created in 1881 and Ada was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was built by O H Myron in 1883 and rented to the county. The county bought the building in 1885 for $2,400. The cost of construction of the second and present courthouse was $60,637.
County Courthouse – Ada
County District Court courthouse
County Office Building – Ada
Photos taken 2007, 2008, 2019 and 2023