Cedar County is named for the many juniper trees in the area which were mistakenly called “cedar trees”.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Yankton County, South Dakota and Clay County, South Dakota
E – Dixon County
S – Wayne County and Pierce County
W – Pierce County and Knox County
Created: Febryary 12, 1857 
County Seat:
St. James 1857 – 1869
St, Helena 1869 – 1885
Hartington 1885 – present
County Courthouse – Hartington
Location: 101 South Broadway Avenue / East Franklin Street
Built: 1891 – 1892
Style: Romanesque
Architect: J C Stitt of Norfolk
Contractor: Paterson & McClean and Henry Stuckenhoff.of Hartington
Description: The building faces west and is a two story red colored brick structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Hartington. The basement is rusticated rock-faced golden colored stone as is the trim. Upper walls are faced with red colored brick, making an attractive color and textural contrast with the stone. An unusual textured brick is used in the spandrels over the two entries and also beneath the corner tower windows. Stone is used effectively to form continuous lintels and sills, quoins on the massive corner tower, and fine large round arches on the tower and also two deeply recessed entries. On the northwest corner rises a four story square brick tower with open arched window at the top. There is a small square tower on the southwest corner. The west central entrance has a stone trimmed arch. The second story district courtroom on the west side may have been reduced in size somewhat but retains considerable original woodwork as well as four notable colored glass windows located behind the judge’s bench, an unusual feature. A one story red colored brick addition was constructed on the north side in 2008 to 2010. The building houses the County District Court and County Court of the 6th Judicial District. The architect was Mannes Architects of Yankton, South Dakota and the contractor was RaDec Construction Company of Hartington.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Cedar County Courthouse
See: The 6th Judicial District includes Burt County, Cuming County, Dakota County, Dixon County, Dodge County, Thurston County and Washington County.
History: The county was created in 1857 and St. James was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a two story frame structure built in 1857. In 1869, the county seat was moved to St, Helena and the county occupied rented premises. The second courthouse was a small frame structure built by August Lubeley in 1878 at a cost of 425. M C Guide was given the contract to build a jail at a cost of $446. The county seat was moved to Hartington in 1885 and the county rented premises until the third and present courthouse was constructed in 1891 to 1892.
County Courthouse – Hartington
County District Court courtroom
Photos taken 2008