501 S. Minnesota Avenue St. Peter , MN - View Map: The first
courthouse at St. Peter in Nicollet County was built by the St.
Peter Company as a temporary building, to be replaced by what
citizens believed would be the state capitol building of
Minnesota. When this "sure thing" didn't happen, the Company
initiated in 1859 the election that moved the county seat from
Traverse des Sioux to St. Peter. The $5,000, two-story, frame
building at Minnesota and Broad became the county courthouse.
The old frame courthouse was St. Peter's city hall until 1886,
when it burned to the ground. The current courthouse was
designed by Edward P. Bassford and E.W. Stebbins of St. Paul. It
cost $26,638 and was completed in 1881 by Bohn & Wilce of Winona
on three lots donated by St. Peter citizens. The building has a
strong Italianate style, as well as elements of the Romanesque
Revival style. Decoration in the light stone trim includes the
Latin word for "law" -- LEX -- over the doorway. The courthouse
was extended in 1917. A pago