This photo shows the Emmons County Courthouse in Linton, North Dakota, a two-story Art Deco–style building constructed of tan brick with stone accents. The symmetrical façade features tall vertical windows, decorative stone panels, and a central entrance framed by geometric designs and metal double doors. Above the doorway, the building is marked with the words “Emmons County Court House.” A flagpole with American and state flags stands on the lawn, alongside a sign inviting visitors to “Experience the Story.” The courthouse has a solid, dignified presence that reflects its civic importance.

The year was 1883, and the original location of the Emmons County Courthouse was where else, but at the county seat of Emmons County, in Williamsport, ND. That’s right, from the time the county was organized, its early political history was interwoven with an almost continuous battle against Williamsport for the location of the County Seat. It is said that hardly a single election went by without some reference made about this paramount question, and on three occasions when the matter was up for vote, the elections were hot ones. The homesteaders to the south, in Linton, lost the first attempt, failed in the second with a tied vote in need of majority, but finally, won the third in November of 1898. But it wasn’t that simple. The displeased northerners of Williamsport requested a recount. The folks of Linton didn’t waste any time—on January 16th, 1899 arrangements were made to begin business as the County Seat, and Charley Patterson erected a temporary building to be rented to the county, not far from his two story hotel. January and much of February went by with no official word from judge Winchester on the recount, but finally through the efforts of Patterson and others, the Judge agreed to raise the injunction at 4pm on a certain February afternoon.

They say it was a dark and foggy late afternoon when the teams left Linton to Williamsport to collect the vault and official documents. Patterson, known to carry an old sawed-off shotgun, remarked that he should have taken his gun. Instead, the group picked up pieces of an old fence post and thus, road into town, armed. There was no one at the courthouse, but they heard six armed men had gone down the street for their supper. A rider came across Patterson and the men, and shouted, “They’re coming!” Patterson and the others were riding back and forth in front of the courthouse as fast as they could to give the effect of many horsemen on hand. The bluff worked and no one came out of the house. The group returned with the documents, vault and Old Glory leading the way back to Linton.

Today’s courthouse is located a block away from its predecessor and was constructed in 1934. It is on the National Register of Historic Places for a number of reasons, one being that it was the first Workers Program Association project completed in North Dakota, in an effort from Roosevelt to help communities during the Depression.