Ozaukee County | US Courthouses

Ozaukee County is the Ojibwe Native American word for the Sauk Native American nation.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Sheboygan County

E – Lake Michigan

S – Milwaukee County

W – Washington County

Created: Match 7, 1853

County Seat:

Port Washington 1853 – present

County Courthouse – Port Washington

Location: 121 West Main Street / North Wisconsin Street

Built: 1901 – 1902

Style: Romanesque

Architect: Fred Gaff of Milwaukee

Contractor: Wurthmann and Vollar of Cedarburg.

Description: The building faces east and is a two story gray colored course stone and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Port Washington. The building has a raised basement. The trim is smooth-faced Bedford, Indiana limestone and the exterior is gray colored rock-faced limestone. The north side has an enclosed porch on the first story with balcony above and two arched windows. Behind the entrance rises a high square stone clock tower with open section and steep roof with turrets on the corners. On either side of the tower, the building rises to a peaked roof. The east front has a small stone portico on the first story. The roof is pitched. The interior of the courthouse features paneled oak wainscoting and a monumental oak staircase with turned balusters located on the east side of the buiding. The ceiling above the stairwell is painted in pastel tones with a classically-draped female figure in a roundel of stars. The former courtroom is located at the center of the second story. The large room has a high ceiling and at the west side is a large mural. The room is now used by the Board of Supervisors. A four story rectangular shaped addition was constructed on the west side in 1967 to 1969. The entrance is along the north side. The architect was Edgar A Stuebenrauch & Associates Inc. and the contractor was Joseph P Jansen Company.

Note: The principal building material for the courthouse was gray, rock-faced limestone from the near-by Cedarburg quarry, hand-tooled with a chisel and laid in randomly alternating bands of narrow and wide blocks.

See: National Register of Historic Places – Ozaukee County Courthouse

County Justice Center – Port Washington

Location: 1201 South Spring Street / Maritime Drive

Built: 1989 – 1991

Style: Modern

Architect: Eppstein Uhen Architects of Milwaukee

Contractor: Hunzinger Construction Company of Milwaukee

Description: The building faces southwest and is a two story red colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds to the south of center of Port Washington. The southwest corner is circular with large horizontal windows. The southwest entrance is on the second story and the first story is partly below ground level. White colored bands of concrete run horizontally across the exterior. The large green colored roof is hipped. In the interior, the building has four County Circuit Court courtrooms located on the second story. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 3rd Judicial Circuit.

History: The county was created in 1853 and Port Washington was selected as the county seat in 1854. The first courthouse was a three story brick structure built in 1854 at a cost of $12,000. In 1867, a building was erected for the Registrar of Deeds. The second and present courthouse was constructed in 1901 to 1902 at a cost of $58,014. The County Justice Center was constructed in 1989 to 1991.