Valley County is named for the many valleys in the area.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Garfield County
E – Greeley County
S – Sherman County
W – Custer County
Created: March 1, 1871 
County Seat:
Ord 1873 – present
County Courthouse – Ord
Location: 125 South 15th Street / L Street
Built: 1920 – 1921
Style: Beaux Arts
Architect: William F Gernandt of Omaha
Contractor: Henry Ohlsen & Sons Company
Description: The building faces west and is a two story colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Ord and is a rectangular shape rising from a raised basement. The west front has an ornate entrance with six large Ionic columns rising to a decorated stone frieze. The entrance on the first story is framed with light colored stone. Between the paired columns are, from top to bottom, a decorated shield surrounded by cornucopia and sheaves of twisted wheat, the elaborate cornice, a pair of rectangular windows having starburst mullions, a rounded balcony with twisted balusters and decorated railings, and fan shape with pendant that acts as the base of the balcony. The building has elaborate terra cotta trim, and the cream-colored terra cotta contrasts well with the grey-tan brick. The ornate west pavilion displays a wealth of terra cotta. A horizontal stone band runs below the first story windows and below the flat roof line. There are decorated stone headers above the first story windows. In the interior, from the foyer are steps down to the basement and steep steps up to the first story corridor. At the north end is the staircase. The features include mosaic tile in a type of checkerboard pattern in green and white and with a marble border, marble mopboards, stairs, and trim, white marble wainscoting, black and white marble door surrounds. First story corridor walls above the marble wainscoting are long rectangular concrete blocks laid up with wide joints and painted to resemble stone. The courtroom is located on the south side of the second story and contains bold dark woodwork. Heavy beams form a skylight that once had stained glass panels. Other features include a heavy dentiled cornice, paneled wood wainscoting, the judge’s bench, the bar, and heavy flat lintels with dentils and long consoles at the doors. The building houses the District Court and County Court of the 8th Judicial District.
See: The architect, William F Gernandt of Omaha, designed courthouses in Clay County, Dawson County, Merrick County, Pawnee County, Phelps County, Polk County, Richardson County, Sarpy County and Webster County.
See: National Reigister of Historic Places – Valley County Courthouse
See: The 8th Judicial District includes Blaine County, Boyd County, Brown County, Cherry County, Custer County, Garfield County, Greeley County, Holt County, Howard County, Keya Paha County, Loup County, Rock County, Sherman County and Wheeler County.
History: The county was created in 1871 and Ord was selected as the county seat in 1873. The first courthouse was a small structure built in 1875 to 1876 on the south side of the Courthouse Square. The second courthouse was a two story brick structure designed by Duferene Louis Mendelssohn and constructed in 1885 to 1886. The third and present courthouse was constructed in 1919 to 1921 at a cost of $189,729.
County Courthouse – Ord
Photos taken 2006, 2010 and 2016