The first courthouse in Greene County was a frame building built in 1856 for $1,825. Prior to that time the county officers were housed in the Thomas Phillips Building. The second courthouse was completed in 1870 for $37,000. The building featured a bell in the cupola that served as a fire alarm, called the court into session and announced curfew. The present courthouse was dedicated in 1917 and was built at a cost of $200,000. A monument to President Abraham Lincoln was added in 1918 to commemorate the Lincoln Highway, which passes in front of the courthouse. The Mahanay Tower was built on the southwest corner of the courthouse grounds in 1966. In 1993, the Lindsey Memorial, commemorating Greene County native Darrell R. Lindsey, posthumous World War II Medal of Honor recipient, was relocated from the Lindsey Air Station in Wiesbaden, Germany to the southeast corner of the courthouse grounds.
Architecture
The prominent Des Moinesarchitectural firm of Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson designed the three-story building in the Beaux Arts style. The three-story structure measures about, and its exterior is faced in Bedford Stone. The north and south elevations are identical, as are the east and west elevations. The main facades feature Ionic porticos. A clock is set in the tympana of the triangular pediments. They are decorated with bas-relief figures and swags. The secondary facades feature Ionic pilastrades set in antis. The interior of the building is organized around the central rotunda, which extends through from the basement to the attic. The rotunda floor features a mosaic tile reproduction of the county seal, and the ceiling is a stained glass dome. William Peaco painted the four murals that adorn the inner dome. They are entitled: The Buffalo Hunt, The Emigrants, The Pioneer and The Modern Farm.
Mahanay Tower
The bell tower was built at a cost of $350,000 and funded by the estate of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Mahanay and dedicated on October 16, 1966. The tower is in the Brutalist style with a three concave sides and contains 14 bells cast by the Petit & FritsenBell Foundry in Aarle-Rixtel in the Netherlands. The bells chime on the quarter-hour and can be operated by an electric keyboard. The tower has an observation deck at that is accessed via a glass elevator.
