Cedar County Courthouse, Courthouse building in Tipton, Iowa, United States

The Cedar County Courthouse is a Modern-style brick building in Tipton, Iowa, the third structure the county has used for court functions and county administration. Construction began in 1965 and was completed three years later for about $595,000.

Cedar County's first courthouse stood at Rochester, its log building possibly never used for court. After the seat moved to Tipton in 1841, a frame courthouse was finished in 1845, funded by town lot sales, and its upper floor was rented to the Masonic lodge. A brick courthouse with a domed cupola replaced it in 1859, was enlarged in 1889, and lost its clock tower in 1948. The present brick courthouse was built from 1965 to 1968 for about $595,000.

The courthouse keeps the county's court functions and administration under one roof in Tipton, as it has since the county seat moved here in 1841. The present building is the third the county has used, replacing an 1859 brick courthouse whose clock tower was removed in 1948.

The courthouse stands in Tipton, the Cedar County seat since 1841, on the square set aside for it when the town was surveyed. The present brick building was begun in 1965 and finished three years later for about $595,000. It is an active working courthouse, so visitors should keep to public areas and avoid disturbing court proceedings.

The 1859 brick courthouse on this site had a tall cupola capped with a dome; a clock tower added over the main entrance in 1889 was removed in 1948 because it was unsafe. The current brick building, begun in 1965 and finished three years later for about $595,000, is the county's third courthouse.