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Allen County Courthouse (Kansas)

building in Iola, Kansas

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ97188869 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Allen County Courthouse, located at 1 North Washington Avenue in Iola, is the seat of government of Allen County, Kansas. Iola has been the county seat since 1865. The courthouse was built from 1957 to 1958 by contractors Dondlinger & Sons Construction Company, Inc. of Iola at a total cost of $656,364.

Architect Brink and Dunwoody designed the courthouse in the Modern style. The courthouse is one story and faces west. It is constructed of red-colored brick and light-colored concrete. It is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of the city. The old courthouse clock (constructed in 1904) is situated on the courthouse lawn.

The first courthouse was purchased in 1866 and located in Iola; prior courthouses were located in Cofachique and Humboldt.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Allen County Courthouse (Kansas)” as building in Iola, Kansas. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Allen, County and Courthouse.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1865, 1957, 1958, 1904—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Allen, County and Courthouse providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Allen County Courthouse (Kansas)”, the useful work is to connect “building in Iola, Kansas” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q97188869. Authority coordinates are 37.921, -95.405. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1865, 1957, 1958 and 1904.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Allen County Courthouse (Kansas)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Allen County Courthouse (Kansas) primary sources, Allen County Courthouse (Kansas) archive and Allen research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Allen County Courthouse (Kansas)”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Allen County Courthouse (Kansas)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.