OTC Courthouse is listed on National Register of Historic Places
News | Published on May 6, 2025 at 3:11pm GMT+0000 | Author: Tucker Henderson
0Construction on Fergus Falls courthouse was completed in 1922
The Otter Tail County Courthouse was completed in 1922, three years after a cyclone struck Fergus Falls and destroyed the old courthouse.
By Tom Hintgen
Otter Tail County Correspondent
The current Otter Tail County Courthouse, completed in 1922 just south of downtown Fergus Falls, has paintings of all the townships of Otter Tail County. The courthouse is four stories tall and has a total of 47,000 square feet of space.
Included are 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 exterior of the building is made of limestone and terracotta (porous clay). The interior of the building is decorated with marble, wood and stained glass.
The Otter Tail County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors are welcome, but they must enter through the north door and pass through a security checkpoint.
An energy audit will be completed in the following county buildings in Fergus Falls: Courthouse, Jail, Sheriff Office, Law Enforcement Center, County Government Services Center, South Court Street Building and Recycling Center on North Tower Road.
“The bottom line is that we need to have energy savings for taxpayers,” said County Board Chairman Wayne Johnson of Pelican Rapids. “This audit will provide information. We as a county board will have options from which to choose or not choose.”