Box Butte County is named for a large butte situated six miles north of Alliance which is box-shaped in outline.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Dawes County
E – Sheridan County
S – Morrill County
W – Sioux County
Created: November 2, 1886 
County Seat:
Nonpareil 1886 – 1890
Hemingford 1890 – 1899
Alliance 1899 – present
County Courthouse – Alliance
Location: 515 Box Butte Avenue / East 5th Street
Built: 1913 – 1914
Style: Classical Revival
Architect: Rose and Peterson of Kansas City, Kansas
Contractor: R A Matthews of Grand Junction, Colorado
Description: The building faces west and is a three story buff colored brick, stone and concrete structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Alliance. The west front has two entrances framed with stone. The first story and all columns and ornamentations are built of Bedford stone. The walls of the upper stories are built of a light gray colored pressed brick with a heavy, ornamental, terra cotta Cornish. The floors are made of reinforced concrete, with the beams and columns of the same material thus creating as fire proof of a facility as possible. The other sides of the square building are similar. There is a wide cornice below the flat roof line. In the interior, all the floors in the lobby and public spaces are laid with tile. The entrance and lobbies are supplied with marble wainscoting. The County Court courtroom is located in the northwest corner of the first story. The Commissioner Room is also located on the first story. The County District Court courtroom is located southeast corner of the third story. The building houses the District Court and County Court of the 12th Judicial District.
See: The architect, Rose and Peterson of Kansas City, Kansas, also designed the courthouse in Burt County.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Box Butte County Courthouse
See: The 12th Judicial District includes Banner County, Cheyenne County, Dawes County, Deuel County, Garden County, Grant County, Kimball County, Morrill County, Scotts Bluff County, Sheridan County and Sioux County.
History: The county was created in 1886 and Nonpareil was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was two story structure built in 1886 with boards from native pines that were obtained from saw mills in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. In 1890 the county seat was moved to Hemingford. The Lincoln Land Company donated a two story building for use as the second courthouse. In 1899, the county seat was moved to Alliance. The courthouse was sold to the county for $1,900 and Mr. E W Bell was charged with the task of moving the building, which was placed railroad flatbed cars and transported on the railroad line from Hemingford to Alliance. The third and present courthouse was constructed in 1913 to 1914 at a cost of $65,000.
County Courthouse – Alliance
County District Court courtroom
Commissioner’s Meeting Room
Carhenge – Alliance
Pihotos taken 2010