{"id":662,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:40:08","latitude":46.2362166977626287689417949877679347991943359375,"longitude":-112.121777964669718130608089268207550048828125,"title":"Jefferson County Courthouse","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/8c7263c7114bb9ca50cd79a00a0ed590.jpg","address":"200 West Centennial Avenue, Boulder, Montana","all_locations":[],"zoom":16,"creator":["Montana National Register Sign Program"],"description":"In 1888, Jefferson County voters passed a $40,000 bond issue to build a permanent courthouse. Flourishing gold and silver mines and the advent of the railroad meant the county would see its population quadruple between 1870 and 1890, and there looked to be no end to the boom. Seeking a building that mirrored their confidence in the future, county commissioners hired Montana Territory’s most noted architect, the German-born and trained John Paulsen, to draw up plans. Paulsen reflected the young settlement’s ambitions with this Richardsonian Romanesque style building. Inspired by the enduring structures of the Middle Ages, the style particularly appealed to frontier communities that wanted to assert their staying power. The massive courthouse features a tall square tower capped by an octagonal spire and two turrets. It also boasts the semi-circular arches, rough-cut stone accents, and asymmetrical roofline that typify Richardsonian Romanesque. Gargoyles at the building’s corners, perched just below the eaveline, add a touch of whimsy. Contractor J. S. McKenzie built the two-story monument from locally quarried granite and bricks burned within a mile of the construction site. The interior features elaborate woodwork, including decorative door and window trim and an ornately carved staircase. In the courtroom itself, walls rise twenty feet to a ceiling of stained beams and planking. Completed the year Montana achieved statehood, the building ultimately cost the county approximately $50,000 (an estimated $1.1 million in today’s dollars). Built for the ages, it is one of the oldest courthouses in Montana still used for its original purpose.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"Public","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/0c9d2fe6-2fef-42c0-90c1-61c95139e654\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read about the Jefferson County Courthouse</a>","<a href=\"https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/88b7edde-fe5c-42e4-a00c-c9c5362de4ee/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See photos of the Jefferson County Courthouse</a>"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/8c7263c7114bb9ca50cd79a00a0ed590.jpg":{"id":1304,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Jefferson County Courthouse, Boulder, MT","description":"View facing northwest at building facade. | <a href=\"https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/73413\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Montana History Portal</a> | Between 1890 and 1920 | Unidentified photographer","thumbnail":"https://historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/8c7263c7114bb9ca50cd79a00a0ed590.jpg"},"https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/198932d611c39146fe5928c79c510b9b.jpg":{"id":1303,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Jefferson County Courthouse, Boulder, MT","description":"View from a nearby street, showing a masonry structure with turrets and a tower and landscaping around the building. | <a href=\"https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/73415\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Montana History Portal</a> | Nov. 1970 | Peter G. Meloy, photographer","thumbnail":"https://historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/198932d611c39146fe5928c79c510b9b.jpg"},"https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/8bfe29ed3baf35d14f1f37c0a2e3b70a.jpg":{"id":1305,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Jefferson County Courthouse, Boulder, MT","description":"View of the Jefferson County Courthouse from across the street, showing masonry structure with turrets and a tower, landscaping around the building, and forested mountains in the distance. | <a href=\"https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/73414\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Montana History Portal</a> | Between 1960 and 1975 | Unidentified photographer","thumbnail":"https://historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/8bfe29ed3baf35d14f1f37c0a2e3b70a.jpg"},"https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/5855322605c57e39f7bc69d498d46a21.jpg":{"id":2016,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Jefferson County Courthouse, Boulder, MT","description":"Front to side view of the building, facing north on West 3rd Avenue. | Montana State Historic Preservation Office | 2014 | Urbaniak","thumbnail":"https://historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/5855322605c57e39f7bc69d498d46a21.jpg"},"https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/6604da873b37f6aa3a86723fc06d65fe.jpg":{"id":4901,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Jefferson County Courthouse, Boulder, MT","description":"View of facade. | Montana Historical Society | May 2019 | Joe Furshong, photographer","thumbnail":"https://historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/6604da873b37f6aa3a86723fc06d65fe.jpg"},"https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/676f3ff43eaf02b7878943ffe31178d0.jpg":{"id":4902,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Jefferson County Courthouse, Boulder, MT","description":"Detail view of masonry entrance surround and tower. Digital photograph. | Montana Historical Society | May 2019 | Joe Furshong, photographer","thumbnail":"https://historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/676f3ff43eaf02b7878943ffe31178d0.jpg"},"https://historicmt.org/files/fullsize/4d54c47bceb14ba96d68df288946cc7d.jpg":{"id":4903,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Jefferson County Courthouse, Boulder, MT","description":"Interior view looking up wood staircase. Digital photograph. | Montana Historical Society | May 2019 | Joe Furshong, photographer","thumbnail":"https://historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/4d54c47bceb14ba96d68df288946cc7d.jpg"}}}