Chase County Courthouse

The Chase County Courthouse was designed to command attention at the end of a town street. Cottonwood Falls rises toward the courthouse from the bridge over the Cottonwood River, and the red mansard roof remains visible across the surrounding county. That position was deliberate in effect, even if the town's later shape depended on decisions made elsewhere.

In 1871, Chase County's roughly 600 residents approved a bond to build a courthouse. A prominent local citizen donated a parcel at the south end of Cottonwood Falls's main street. John G. Haskell, an architect who also designed the first Kansas Statehouse, drew up a French Renaissance Revival building. Work finished in 1873, using limestone quarried on the town site and walnut from the Cottonwood River area.