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Photograph of Decatur County Courthouse
Photograph by Scott Romine, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Decatur County Courthouse

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

From the record

“The Decatur County Courthouse, located in Leon, Iowa, United States, was built in 1908. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource.”

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

One of 7 National Register listings published here for Decatur County · listed in 1981 · 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. 9th St., Leon, 50144
  • When was it listed? July 1981
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. County Courthouses in Iowa TR
  • City. Leon city
  • Architectural style. Renaissance Revival architecture
  • National Register reference number. 81000233 - 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.

Mines and quarries near this property

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Decatur County Courthouse: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Mills Brick YardClayPast Producer
Millsap QuarriesStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Decatur County

Storms near this property

53 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Leon, the town this property stands in, in 53 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 22 hail, 21 thunderstorm wind, 4 lightning, 2 flash flood. The reports record 5 injuries. 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 2001Thunderstorm WindLeon2 hurt, $25,000no account filed
April 2001Thunderstorm WindLeon2 hurt, $5,000no account filed
August 2010LightningLeon1 hurtA 15 year old girl was struck by lightning.
March 2022Tornado (EF2)Leon$500,000This tornado passed through three counties including Decatur, Wayne and Lucas. The tornado developed east of Leon in central Decatur county and headed northeast. The torndo remained in rural areas of the county for the duration of its path. Damage was primarily to broken power poles, although residential house damage was also noted. A roof was removed from a house just east of Garden Grove producing EF2 damage with other damage to nearby outbuildings also noted. The tornado exited into Wayne county just north of 140th Street.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindLeon$200,000Significant tree damage in the town of Leon. An estimated 100 to 200 trees felled in town with large trees littering the town. Trees fell on the roofs of many houses, but no major structural damage.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindLeon$90,000Osceola Fire Department reported a grain bin toppled and blocking US Highway 69. Time estimated via radar.
September 1993Thunderstorm WindLeon$50,000no account filed
June 2008HailLeon$30,000Extensive hail damage to a RV camper and a residential skylight.
September 1996LightningLeon$30,000no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindLeon$25,000no account filed
September 2018Thunderstorm WindLeon$20,000Law enforcement reported power lines down and a power outage in Leon. Basement flooding was also reported at some locations in the area. This is a delayed report.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindLeon$20,000no account filed
September 2014Thunderstorm WindLeon$10,000Large tree branches reported down.
June 2008Flash FloodLeon$10,000Water reported over roads in Leon.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindLeon$10,000no account filed
August 2004Thunderstorm WindLeon$10,000no account filed
June 2011Thunderstorm WindLeon$5,000Heavy rain and pea size hail also reported west of Leon. Wind speed estimated.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindLeon$5,000Power lines and tree limbs were down in town.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindLeon$5,000no account filed
April 2006HailLeon$5,000no account filed
July 2006Thunderstorm WindLeon$5,000no account filed
June 2005HailLeon$5,000no account filed
May 2004HailLeon$5,000no account filed
August 2004Thunderstorm WindLeon$5,000no account filed
August 2003HailLeon$5,000no account filed
April 2001LightningLeon$5,000no account filed
August 1999LightningLeon$5,000no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindLeon$5,000no account filed
May 1996HailLeon$5,000no account filed
June 2008Thunderstorm WindLeon$3,000Large tree limbs were blown down.
May 2004HailLeon$2,000no account filed
July 2001HailLeon$2,000no account filed
April 2015HailLeon$1,000no account filed
April 2010Thunderstorm WindLeon$1,000no account filed
May 2004HailLeon$1,000no account filed
May 2004HailLeon$1,000no account filed
September 2000HailLeon$1,000no account filed
August 2025Heavy RainLeon-Event total rainfall of 3.07 inches from personal weather station.
June 2025Flash FloodLeon-Heavy rain occurred over the area with over 3 inches in an hour. This resulted in a number of flooded roads in town, with water actively flowing at mid rim height on vehicles in flood waters. Impacts were largely confined to town which lies lower that surroundings area. Highway 69, coming into town from the north, had water over it for a time but this remained minor enough that a road closure was not needed.
May 2024HailLeon-Time of occurrence estimated from radar.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindLeon-Social media photo of wind blown hail causing damage to siding, windows, gutters, screens, and air conditioner. Time estimated by radar.
May 2018HailLeon-Law enforcement reported quarter sized hail.
April 2016HailLeon-Emergency Manager reported nickel sized hail.
July 2010Funnel CloudLeon-Storm chasers reported a brief funnel southeast of Leon.
August 2009Heavy RainLeon-Rainfall amount of 4.07 inches was reported.
June 2004HailLeon-Dime size hail
March 2014HailLeon-no account filed
March 2014HailLeon-no account filed
June 2008HailLeon-no account filed
April 2006HailLeon-no account filed
March 2005Thunderstorm WindLeon-no account filed
May 2004HailLeon-no account filed
April 2003HailLeon-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Decatur 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

2 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
Grand River Bridge6.9 miles1998
Union Church7.7 miles1976

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 81000233 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Decatur CountyAll 7 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.
  • 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.