The Clayton County Courthouse, located in Elkader, Iowa, United States, was built in 1878. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource. The courthouse is the second building to house court functions and county administration.HistoryThe county seat in Clayton County moved several times between 1840 and 1876. It was located first in Prairie La Porte, then Jacksonville, followed by Garnavillo, Elkader and Guttenberg. Eventually, Elkader won the right to be the county seat. The first courthouse for the county was in Garnavillo and was sold in 1866 to raise money for a new courthouse in Elkader. The board of supervisors was only willing to spend $2,000 a year to build the new structure. Because there was yet another contest in the works to consider the location of the county seat, the county and the town of Elkader came up with $10,000 to build the new courthouse. It is an Italianate style structure that was designed by O.F. Davis. The building was constructed of red brick, the clock tower was added at a later date. The Civil War Monument was erected on the grounds in 1919.
