Rosebud County | US Courthouses

Rosebud County is named for the Rosebud River, which was named for the many wild roses along its banks.

Created: February 11, 1901

County Seat:

Forsyth 1901 – present

County Courthouse – Forsyth

Location: 1200 Main Street / North 12th Street

Built: 1912 – 1914

Style: Beaux Arts

Architect: John G Link and Charles S Haire of Billings

Contractor: Gray’s Construction Company of South Dakota.

Description: The building faces south and is a two story gray colored stone structure. The south front has a large projecting portico with two columns rising to a pediment at the roof line. A projecting cornice runs below the roof line. On the center of the roof is rounded dome with black colored copper roof.

Note: The cost of construction of the courthouse was $125,000. Trouble commenced when it became clear that the project was more than $40,000 over budget. In September 1913, the editor of the Forsyth Times-Journal lambasted the county commissioners for the cost overrun and brought suit to restrain them from further expenditure. Apparently worried that his company would not be paid in full, Gray’s foreman refused to turn over the keys to the completed building, despite a court order. The clash had moments of high comedy: at one point, the foreman locked himself inside the building and secreted himself between the ceiling and the roof. Ultimately, a grand jury vindicated the commissioners. Ruling that the building’s design was “imposing and attractive” and its interior “very harmoniously and artistically decorated,” the grand jury declared that the county received “full value for the money expended.” Their judgment still stands.

See: The architect, John G Link of Montana ( in association with Charles S Haire and others ) designed courthouses in Montana in Big Horn County, Carter County, Custer County, Dawson County, Granite County, McCone County, Musselshell County, Richland County, Sheridan County and Silver Bow County; and in Wyoming in Park County, Sheridan County and Washakie County.