OTC Courthouse is listed on National Register of Historic Places

Photo by Tom Hintgen
The Otter Tail County Courthouse, more than a century old, is located just south of downtown Fergus Falls.

By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

The Otter Tail County Courthouse was completed in 1922, three years after a cyclone struck Fergus Falls and destroyed the old courthouse. The rotunda inside the courthouse in Fergus Falls is one of the most memorable parts of the county building.

A detailed history of construction of the courthouse, with photos, is included in the Fall 2024 issue of the Otter Tail County Historical Society Newsletter.

The courthouse, now 102 years old, has a total of 47,000 square feet of space just south of downtown Fergus Falls.

In recent months county residents have toured and revisited the works of Charles Holloway and discovered artistic details of the building.  Holloway was an Illinois native who studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Academie Julian in Paris, France. 

Holloway painted four murals on canvas, now glued to the rotunda’s ceiling inside the county courthouse. These murals can be seen today as visitors gaze at the stained-glass dome.

The Otter Tail County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Following are some historical accounts provided by the Otter Tail County Historical Society in its fall 2024 newsletter.

• On April 21, 1921, the contract for the new courthouse in Fergus Falls was awarded to Jorgenson company of St. Paul. The chairman of the county board of commissioners went to the Twin Cities to sign bonds for construction of the new courthouse.

• Ground was broken for the new courthouse on Aug. 2, 1921. By the end of August the first story was completed. A December thaw allowed for the final concrete slab to be poured. Roof work was completed and windows were installed.

• Interior work started in early 1922 and continued through the spring and summer. Jorgenson, the general contractor, turned the building over to Otter Tail County commissioners on Aug. 22, 1922.

• In September 1922 county departments started moving into the new courthouse, the first of which was the county auditors’ office. The third floor held the court rooms.

• Some county departments at the courthouse needed more space, and in 2003 they moved to a remodeled building on the west side of the former Regional Treatment Center (RTC) complex in northwest Fergus Falls. This site is referred to as the Otter Tail County Government Services Center.