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Photograph of Muscatine County Courthouse
Photograph by Thug outlaw69 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Muscatine County Courthouse

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

From the record

“The Muscatine County Courthouse in Muscatine, Iowa, United States, was built in 1909. 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 Muscatine County Courthouse, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 40 National Register listings published here for Muscatine 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. 3rd St., Muscatine, 52761
  • When was it listed? July 1981
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. County Courthouses in Iowa TR
  • Township. Bloomington township
  • Architectural style. Beaux-Arts
  • National Register reference number. 81000260 - 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

5 since 2013

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Muscatine County Courthouse between 2013 and 2015, burning about 20 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 burning5

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
9 September 2013Debris and open burning11 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 May 2015Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 April 2014Debris and open burning5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
3 April 2013Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
23 March 2014Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in Muscatine 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 Muscatine County Courthouse: 4 producers, 2 past producers. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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
Hintermeister QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Weis QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Acme Fuel and Material Co. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Hahn Ready Mix Co. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Northern Gravel Dredge & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Richter PropertySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Muscatine County

Storms near this property

60 of 205 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Muscatine, the town this property stands in, in 205 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 78 thunderstorm wind, 76 hail, 18 flood, 14 flash flood. The reports record 2 deaths and 4 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
May 2015LightningMuscatine1 killed, 1 hurtThe Muscatine County Emergency Manager reported a male, age 36, was struck by lightning and killed while riding a horse. Another male, age 25, was injured. The horse was also killed.
June 2013Tornado (EF1)Muscatine1 killed, $500,000There was a narrow damage track with trees snapped and uprooted. The most intense damage occurred in the business district along Highway 61. There was damage to a church, car dealership, hotel, and several other business. The damage continued down New Era road where several farmsteads sustained damage. The fatality occurred at the car dealership. There were 5 semi trailers overturned along Highway 61.
March 2017Tornado (EF2)Muscatine3 hurt, $100,000Tornado was rated EF-2 with peak winds of 115 MPH, a path length of 1.78 miles and max width of 200 yards. Estimated time was 10:05 PM to 10:10 PM. Tornado tracked through Muscatine, touching down in Kent Stein Park, traveling through neighborhoods, and damaging homes and businesses. At least 2 homes lost their roofs. Up to 80 more homes sustained minor damage.
April 2011FloodMuscatine$250,000no account filed
May 2000HailMuscatine$250,000no account filed
April 2010HailMuscatine$50,000Half dollar sized hail fell on the west side of Muscatine, IA at 801 pm April 4. The hail dented some cars.
May 2003Heavy RainMuscatine$50,000Water 2 inches deep on streets
July 2003HailMuscatine$50,000Lasted 10 minutes
May 2000Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$50,000A barn suffered significant damage due to high winds. The roof caved in and pieces of the wood structure were spread across the farmland.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$50,000no account filed
April 2006HailMuscatine$30,000Numerous reports of quarter to tennis ball size hail across city and at the community college; this was the second hail core to hit the city.
May 1996Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$30,000no account filed
July 2008Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$25,000Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down several trees and branches across Muscatine, IA around 545 am July 21. Some of the trees fell across Mulberry Avenue. Some homes were also damaged and a power outage was observed.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$25,0008 power lines down with 2 semi trucks blown over.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$20,000Tree down on a trailer
July 2003Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$20,000Trees down on U.S. 61
February 1999Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$20,000no account filed
May 1995HailMuscatine$20,000no account filed
May 1995Tornado (F0)Muscatine$20,000no account filed
May 1995HailMuscatine$20,000no account filed
July 2008Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$10,000Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew down some 8 inch diameter tree limbs in Muscatine, IA at 545 am July 21. A power outage was also observed.
March 2006Heavy RainMuscatine$10,000Heavy rain of unknown amounts fell in just under 2 hours in Muscatine. At the intersection of Leroy Street and Bidwell Road a 10 by 12 foot section of pavement buckled and sank 3-4 inches. There was a pre-existing crack in the pavement and water running down Leroy Street ran into the crack and scoured out the sub-roadbed.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$10,000power lines down
April 2006Tornado (F0)Muscatine$10,000Crossed the Mississippi River into Rock Island County Illinois
July 2003Flash FloodMuscatine$10,000Water bumper deep at Cedar and Mulberry Streets
April 2006HailMuscatine$10,000no account filed
July 2003HailMuscatine$10,000no account filed
July 2003HailMuscatine$10,000no account filed
February 1999Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$9,000no account filed
April 2006HailMuscatine$8,000Numerous reports of penny to quarter size hail
August 2007Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$5,000Winds estimated to be 65 mph blew down a tree onto some power lines on Newell Ave in Muscatine, IA.
April 2006HailMuscatine$5,000no account filed
May 1995Tornado (F0)Muscatine$5,000no account filed
April 1995HailMuscatine$5,000no account filed
April 1995Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$3,000no account filed
March 2012LightningMuscatine$2,000A lightning strike caused some electrical damage to the HON plant in Muscatine, IA during the evening of March 19. Power to the plant was knocked out and smoke was observed.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$2,000From co-op observer
July 2003Heavy RainMuscatine$2,000In 22 minutes
August 2003Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$2,000Jct of Iowa 38 & 155th Street
June 1999HailMuscatine$1,500Golfball sized hail knocked out 7 windows in a home. Winds downed three 40 foot walnut trees and an apple tree. A 12 foot by 60 foot storage trailer was also destroyed.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$1,500Golfball sized hail knocked out 7 windows in a home. Winds downed three 40 foot walnut trees and an apple tree. A 12 foot by 60 foot storage trailer was also destroyed.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$1,000Winds estimated to be 70 mph blew a shed into a ditch, blew highway signs over, and blew trees down across Highway 61 approximately 4 miles northeast of Muscatine, IA around 545 am July 21.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$1,000A large tree limb 1.5 feet in diameter was downed over some power lines. Power service was out in the Hershey Manor area.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$1,000From Co-op observer.
May 1999Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$500Severe thunderstorm winds downed power lines.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindMuscatine$200Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew some tree limbs and real estate signs down in Muscatine, IA at 429 pm June 23. Heavy rain was also observed.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindMuscatine-A tree was blown down near Cedar Street. The time was estimated using radar data.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindMuscatine-Numerous large tree branches blown down in Muscatine.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindMuscatine-A large tree was snapped near base with several other tree branches down at Kent Stein Park. Time estimated from radar.
August 2025Flash FloodMuscatine-Reports received that the 700 block of Lake Park Blvd is flooded and impassable. Several other streets flooded.
July 2025Flash FloodMuscatine-A public report of street flooding in Muscatine.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindMuscatine-Trees down in Muscatine. Time estimated from radar data.
July 2025Flash FloodMuscatine-A public report of flash flooding.
July 2025Flash FloodMuscatine-There are several reports of flooded streets in downtown Muscatine. A few reported as temporarily impassable with a foot of water over the road.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindMuscatine-A tree fell on a power line. Time estimated from radar data.
July 2024FloodMuscatine-The Mississippi River at Muscatine rose above its major flood stage of 20 feet around 6 PM on July 4th and crested at 21.48 feet on July 11th. The river fell back below flood stage on July 17th around 7 PM.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindMuscatine-Spotter estimated thunderstorm wind gust.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindMuscatine-Measured wind gust from equipment on a vehicle.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindMuscatine-Widespread tree limbs down, as well as power poles.
April 2023FloodMuscatine-The Mississippi River at Muscatine rose above its major flood stage of 20.0 feet during the afternoon on April 26th and continued to rise to 22.13 feet during the evening hours of April 30th.

Every storm recorded in Muscatine 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
Trinity Episcopal Churchunder 500 feet1974
Downtown Commercial Historic District0.1 miles2006
S. M. McKibben House0.1 miles1974
Welch Apartments0.3 miles1979
First Presbyterian Church0.3 miles1977
Alexander Clark House0.3 miles1976

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 81000260 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Muscatine CountyAll 40 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.