The first structure to house the functions of the county was a one-and-a-half-story cabin measuring 24 by 20 feet. This was replaced by a brick two-story structure with a cupola, built between 1860 and 1864. This building was partially destroyed by fireworks during the Fourth of July celebration in 1881. The architects of the present courthouse gave the community a somewhat old-fashioned design that reflected the late Richardsonian Romanesque. The two-story structure on a raised basement terminates in a low, double-tiered tower containing four clock faces. The central arched entrance is embraced by two bay towers. Rusticated Bedford limestone has been used to sheath the building; its roofs are covered in tile. On the courthouse grounds is a stone obelisk surmounted by a classical urn, a monument set up in 1869 to commemorate soldiers who died in the Civil War.