Pine County Court House history

In the early 1870’s, there started an influx of homesteaders into the southern part of the county and a demand developed for a county building.

Stevens County's first courthouse was built in 1872 on the block currently occupied by the public library.

In 1876, the Hersey-Bean lumber company erected a one room county office building, 16x30 feet in size, which the county board agreed to rent for $50.00 a year.

The first and only court term at Brunswick, Kanabec’s county seat at the time, was held in 1882.In the general election of 1882, the county seat was voted to be moved to the new village of Mora by a vote of 166 for and 2 against.

In later years it was occupied by the Frank Overaker family and later dismantled.At its January meeting in 1883, the county board rented temporary quarters in Mora for county officials, pending the erection of a courthouse.

When the more elaborate courthouse was completed in 1886 in the square to the south, the first small building was moved from Main Street and used as a residence.

The plain, yellow brick, two-story rectangle was built with the help of the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works in 1939.

In a 1954 bond issue, the county raised $160,000 for a new courthouse.

In June of 2000, the courthouse reopened for business.