Rice County Courthouse and Jail
Faribault, United States
Open to visitors
The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.
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The Rice County Courthouse and Jail in Faribault, Minnesota comprises two distinct structures reflecting different architectural periods. The main courthouse, completed in 1934 at a cost of $200,000, is an Art Deco masterpiece designed by architect Nairne W. Fisher of St. Cloud. Built of natural-face Faribault stone horizontally banded with sawed-faced stone, the building blends classical and Zigzag Moderne styles. Relief sculptures on its exterior celebrate civic virtue, industry, and farming. Inside, a central rotunda accessible via a Zigzag Moderne staircase showcases Art Deco metal and glass fixtures. The walls, floors, and stairs feature polished black and gray Tennessee marble, with a terrazzo map of Rice County inlaid on the rotunda floor. The third-floor courtroom, rising 16 feet high, is finished in fine-grained walnut with custom-built furnishings. The adjacent brick jail, constructed in 1910 and designed by Albert Schippel of Mankato, exhibits the Richardsonian Romanesque style. Both buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Movement
- Type
- courthouse
- Heritage
- National Register of Historic Places listed place
- Place
- Faribault, United States
This building on
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Location