BlockBefore
Photograph of Van Buren County Courthouse
Photograph by Sector001, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Van Buren County Courthouse

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

From the record

“The Van Buren County Courthouse located in Keosauqua, Iowa, United States, was built in 1843. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource.”

Wikipedia article Van Buren County Courthouse (Iowa), CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 23 National Register listings published here for Van Buren County · listed in 1977 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 904 4th St., Keosauqua, 52565
  • When was it listed? November 1977
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. County Courthouses in Iowa TR (AD); County Courthouses in Iowa TR
  • Township. Van Buren township
  • Architectural style. Greek Revival architecture
  • National Register reference number. 77000562 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

1 since 2014

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Van Buren County Courthouse in 2014, burning about 200 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
30 March 2014Debris and open burning200 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in Van Buren County

Mines and quarries near this property

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Van Buren County Courthouse: 5 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Anderson QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Downing QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Old County QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Sargent QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Van Buren County QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Van Buren County

Storms near this property

39 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Keosauqua, the town this property stands in, in 39 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 18 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 3 heavy rain, 2 flash flood. The reports record 1 death and 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2003LightningKeosauqua1 killed, 1 hurtno account filed
June 2010LightningKeosauqua$86,000Lightning struck the county 911 tower, damaging a console.
March 2006HailKeosauqua$30,000Emergency manager's truck damaged. There is probable unknown damage to residences and cars in town as well.
April 2006HailKeosauqua$20,000Hail ranged from 1 to 1.75 inches. Several reports were received from the general public and fire department.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua$20,000Numerous trees downed. One homeowner reported her windows and window fan were blown out of her bedroom. Still another damage report was that of a top torn off a grain bin.
June 2005HailKeosauqua$10,000Small branches down with estimated 43 knot (50 mph) winds.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua$5,000Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew down numerous trees and power lines in Keosauqua, IA at 645 pm July 27. A power outage was also observed.
July 2003Heavy RainKeosauqua$5,000Jct Hwys 1 &2; water over road
September 2005Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua$3,000no account filed
July 2015Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua$2,000Several trees were blown down near the intersection of Route J40 and Highway 1. The event time was estimated from local radar data.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua$2,000In the center of town, a few older trees 2 feet in diameter were snapped off, local power was out, debris was everywhere. Up to 100 trees in town were damaged or down in the town of Keosauqua. The time of the event is estimated from local radar data.
July 2003Heavy RainKeosauqua$2,000in 20 minutes
June 2006Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua$1,000tree down blocking the road; several sheets of gypsum board were blown over a one story house and into a ditch.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua-Law Enforcement tree limbs down in Keosauqua and trees down lacey State Park south of west of Keosauqua.
June 2024HailKeosauqua-Report gathered from mping.
June 2024HailKeosauqua-Report gathered from mping.
June 2021Heavy RainKeosauqua-Rainfall total of 4.91 inches recorded at a Keosauqua mesonet.
June 2020Flash FloodKeosauqua-The Emergency Manager reported that water was over the eastbound lane of Highway 2 near the intersection with Highway 1. Also, the county engineer reports higher end flash flooding over the southern portions of the county.
June 2019HailKeosauqua-Quarter to half dollar sized hail was reported with heavy rain and gusty winds.
May 2017HailKeosauqua-The spotter reported the hail lasted for 1 minute.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua-Trees were blown down in Keosauqua, Farmington, and Bonaparte.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua-A trained spotter reported several trees down in town with a uprooted 36 inch diameter tree blocking a road. Numerous power lines were also down.
April 2012HailKeosauqua-A trained spotter reported lots of dime size hail falling just southeast of Keosauqua.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua-Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down multiple 12 inch diameter tree limbs in|Keosauqua, IA around 439 pm June 19.
August 2007FloodKeosauqua-The Des Moines River level at Keosauqua went into flood during this period. It crested at 27.40 feet on the morning of the 24th.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua-Winds estimated to be 60 mph blew down some small trees and branches along Highway J40 from Lebanon to Keosauqua. Delayed report.
April 2006HailKeosauqua-penny size hail
April 2006HailKeosauqua-A second severe thunderstorm developed on the flanking line of the original supercell. This storm produced marginal severe hail for 3 minutes. The combined duration of the severe and non-severe hail was 10 minutes from 1034 to 1044 CST.
December 2001Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua-Law enforcement reported 4 inch diameter tree branches blown down.
May 2001HailKeosauqua-Penny sized hail reported by fire and rescue.
June 2024HailKeosauqua-no account filed
June 2024HailKeosauqua-no account filed
June 2021HailKeosauqua-no account filed
June 2018HailKeosauqua-no account filed
August 2017HailKeosauqua-no account filed
May 2011HailKeosauqua-no account filed
July 2007HailKeosauqua-no account filed
March 2002Thunderstorm WindKeosauqua-no account filed
May 1996Flash FloodKeosauqua-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Van Buren County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Voltaire Twombley Building0.2 miles1993
Franklin Pearson House0.3 miles1978
Hotel Manning0.3 miles1973
Des Moines River Locks No. 5 and No. 70.4 miles1977
Lacey-Keosauqua State Park, Picnic and Custodial Group (Area B)1.3 miles1990
Lacey-Keosauqua State Park, Bathing Area (Area C)1.7 miles1990

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 77000562 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Van Buren CountyAll 23 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.