New Lisbon home used as Juneau County Courthouse

1857-1859

First Mauston Juneau County Courthouse

1875 - 1938

The location of a courthouse for Juneau County became a hot issue at the very first annual meeting of the Juneau County Board in November of 1857, and continued for the next two decades. The issue of location was taken to the public in the November 1859 election with a resulting 1,520 votes for New Lisbon and 1,022 for Mauston.

There were alleged election irregularities and the issue was settled in 1864 when the State Supreme Court issued a writ transfer­ring the county seat from New Lisbon to Mauston where county offices had to be housed in rental property. At the annual meeting of the County Board in November, 1874, a resolution to construct a court­house in Mauston was approved.

In 1938 the County Board approved a two phase plan to construct "one of the most beautiful and modern public buildings in Wisconsin" designed by architect Don Hougen of Wisconsin Rapids. While the first phase was under construction, the Board voted to raze the old courthouse entirely and complete the new building on the same site. The cost to the county was $125,000, which was supplemented by

federal relief funds for a total building cost

of $250,000.

An 1861 model ten inch "Columbiad" coast defense gun furnished by the Chief of Ordinance was placed on the courthouse lawn "for the purpose of instilling patrio­tism among our people". Juneau County paid the freight on the 14,985 lb. cannon and twenty 10-inch cannon shells.

The Juneau County Courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by Secretary of the Interior James Watt on November 4, 1982.

Juneau County Board Representatives

James Barrett, Chairman

Margaret Marchetti                 Beverly Larson

Paul Tadda                            Alan Peterson

Jerry Walther                            Joan Koscal

Michael Kelley                       Art Jahncke

   Tom Brounacker                           Rodney Seamans

Robert Miller                           Jerry Niles

David Arnold                               Herbert Carlson

Arthur Preston                                 John Hamm

Edward Brown                        Edward Page

Dennis Kolba                       Lynn Willard