Renville County | US Courthouses

Renville County is named for Joseph Renville, an early settler in Minnesota, who served with the British in the War of 1812 leading a company of Dakota warriors against the United States forces later serving as an interpreter, trader and source of information about Dakota.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Chippewa County, Kandiyohi County and Meeker County

E – McLead County and Sibley County

S – Nicolett County, Brown County and Redwood County

W – Yellow Medicine County and Chippewa County

Created: February 20, 1855

County Seat:

Beaver Falls 1868 – 1895

Olivia 1895 – 1898

Beaver Falls 1898 – 1900

Olivia 1900 – present

County Courthouse – Olivia

Location: 500 East Depue Avenue / South 4th Street

Built: 1902 – 1903

Style: French Second Empire

Architect: Fremont D Orff of Minneapolis

Contractor: O H Olson of Stillwater

Description: The building faces south and is a two story red colored stone, brick and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Olivia. The corner towers of red colored brick are trimmed with yellow colored stone that appears in quoins, belt coursed, and window surrounds, as well as the central portico and solid rusticated high basement. The blue-green copper segmented domes over the corner pavilions and the central tower suggest. However, the center pavilion with its balustraded porch, fluted columns and classic oculus-pierced pediments is in the Georgian style. In the interior is a rotunda beneath the dome. The rotunda has a dome-like vault rising from an embellished entablature with swan’s neck pediments, and is topped by an octagonal stained glass occulus. The County District Court courtrooms are located on the second story. The building houses the County District Court of the 8th Judicial District. In 1933, the building was repaired and redecorated.

See: The architect, Fremont D Orff, designed courthouses in Minnesota in Big Stone County, Red Lake County and Waseca County; and in Nebraska in Wayne County.

See: National Register of Historic Places – Renville County Courthouse

See: The 8th Judicial District includes Big Stone County, Chippewa County, Grant County, Kandiyohi County, Lac Qui Parle County, Meeker County, Pope County, Stevens County, Swift County, Traverse County, Wilkin County and Yellow Medicine County.

History: The county was created in 1855 and Beaver Falls was selected as the county seat in 1868 when the auditor’s office was established and rented premises. The first courthouse was a small stone structure built as a jail and courthouse in Beaver Falls in 1872 at a cost of $2,000. The second courthouse was a frame structure built in 1889 at a cost of $3,939. In 1895, the county seat was moved to Olivia and a local business building served as the third courthouse. In 1896, the court returned to Beaver Falls and then returned to Olivia in 1900. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 1902 to 1903 at a cost of $88,000.

County Government Services Center – Olivia

Location: 5th Street South / Lincoln Avenue

Built: 1991 – 1992

Style: Modern

Architect: Klein McCarthy Architects of St. Louis Park

Contractor: Nelson Construction Company Inc. of Willmar

Description: The building faces west and is a two story red colored brick, buff colored stone and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Olivia on the east side of the courthouse. The building is rectangular shaped and the roof line is flat. The building is named as the Renville County Government Services Center. An addition was built on the south side in 2007 and completed in 2008. The addition is also rectangular shaped. The architect was Klein McCarthy Architects of St. Louis Park and the contractor was Contegrity Group Inc. of Little Falls. On the east side of the building is the modern County Jail.