Property Record
COURTHOUSE SQUARE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Green County Courthouse |
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| Other Name: | Green County Courthouse |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 16175 |
| Location (Address): | COURTHOUSE SQUARE |
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| County: | Green |
| City: | Monroe |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
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| Quarter Section: | |
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| Year Built: | 1891 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1976 |
| Historic Use: | courthouse |
| Architectural Style: | Romanesque Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | C.S. MANSFIELD; W.J. McAlpine |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Green County Courthouse |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 3/21/1978 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: | County Courthouses of Wisconsin Thematic Group |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. Downtown Monroe boasts more than seventy-five historic buildings within ten city blocks, arranged around a courthouse square. Beer-brewing and particularly cheese-making fueled downtown growth. In the last half of the nineteenth century, Swiss immigrants took up farmlands around Monroe and developed dairy operations. Soon, Green County became the nation’s leading producer of cheese, and Monroe became the industry’s principal trading center. The centerpiece of the downtown square is the Green County Courthouse, built in 1891. G. Stanley Mansfield of Illinois created one of the finest examples of Romanesque Revival architecture in the state. Square and round towers, conical roofs, and arched openings create a lively interplay of shapes. The six-stage clock tower soars from the southwest corner; its pyramidal roof was restored in 1985. The building’s smooth brick walls are trimmed with quarry-faced limestone providing both a sense of weight and textural contrast. The rugged limestone figures prominently along the foundation and on the massive entry porches, which have balustraded roof decks and arcades supported by squat marble columns. Rough-cut quoins and window surrounds, decorative stonework in the gable ends, dentils along the cornice, and smooth-faced stonework around the doors opening onto porch roofs provide textural contrast. Inside, the second-floor courtroom features two murals by Franz Rohrbeck, a German immigrant to Milwaukee, both expressing the theme of justice. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |