Holt County is named for Joseph Holt, who was a member of President Buchanan’s cabinet, post-master general, secretary of war and a judge-advocate.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Boyd County
E – Knox County and Antelope County
S – Wheeler County and Garfield County
W – Rock County
Created: January 9, 1862
County Seat:
Paddock 1876 – 1879
O’Neill 1879 – present
County Courthouse – O’Neil
Location: 204 North 4th Street / East Clay Street
Built: 1936 – 1937
Style: Art Deco
Architect: John W Latenser & Sons, Inc. of Omaha
Contractor: Peter Kiewit & Sons Company
Description: The building faces west and is a two story buff colored brick, stone and concrete structure. The Building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of O’Neil.. The west front has a projecting stone section at the entrance. Two square pillars rise to a large stone header and between the pillars are the entrance and above is a vertical three section window. The center section rises above the roof line. The wall surface is golden brown colored brick with limestone trim. The smooth stone is used for coping. A horizontal stone band runs below the first story windows and stone decoration is above the second story windows. White colored panels divide the first and second story windows. The roof line is flat. In the interior, the ample first story hallway is linear and runs east from the interior steps. Other original interior features include dull grey marble for wainscoting and surrounds for windows and two large hallway plaques, patterned terrazzo flooring, and in the main hallway six simple light fixtures and a curving plaster cornice. The County District Court courtroom is located on the second story. Courtroom furnishings are of greyish brown wood and original. The judge’s bench and the jury box are simply rendered and paneled. The building houses the District Court and County Court of the 8th Judicial District.
See: The architect, John W Latenser of Omaha, designed courthouses in Cherry County, Custer County, Dawes County and Furnas County; and John Latenser, Sr. of Omaha in Douglas County.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Holt County Courthouse
See: The 8th Judicial District includes Blaine County, Boyd County, Brown County, Cherry County, Custer County, Garfield County, Greeley County, Howard County, Keya Paha County, Loup County, Rock County, Sherman County, Valley County and Wheeler County.
History: The county was created in 1862 and Paddock was selected as the county seat in 1876 after the county had been organized. A log building was erected as the first courthouse. In 1879, the county seat was moved to O’Neil and the second courthouse was built in 1884 at a cost of $10,000. The third and present courthouse was constructed in 1936 to 1937 at a cost of $49,909.
County Courthouse – O’Neil
Photos taken 2009 and 2010