In 1885, the Morton County Commissioners decided the existing, small log courthouse (and former saloon, former keno hall, former church, former schoolhouse) should be replaced.
Championed by then president of the board of county commissioners Elijah Boley, the hillside location by proclaiming, " In ten years Mandan will be as large as Chicago and the hill north of the city will be the center of population." On June 2, 1885 the county decided to purchase block 75, First Northern Pacific Addition from the city of Mandan for $2300. The land in this area was then platted for lots, extended to the Missouri River, and Joseph Ardon, who farmed 12 miles northwest of the city sold his land for the unheard of price of $100 per acre. The summit of the hill was leveled off, as the peak extended from the present 300 block on 7th Street NW to a point above the city water works.
c. 1934 Couthouse with northside addition
Mandan mayor George Peoples arranged for the city to secure a bond for $8,000 which was used to construct a new road which angled around the hill to the new site.
Later the hill was terraced and innumerable steps put in the south side. Thus, the new courthouse overlooked the city as a monument to the dreams and visions of the poineers in the boom days when "westward ho!" was still a good slogan. The records from the little log shack court house, between Main and 1st Avenue NE were moved into the new structure.
The $35,000 two-story brick building (or approximately $30 million in 2008 dollars) was served at the Morton County Courthouse for over 56 years until fire gutted the building on May 15, 1941. The replacement building, currently in use, had to wait until the conclusion of World War II. In the interim, all salvageable records were transferred to the Mandan Memorial Building. County business was conducted there for 14 years until early 1956 when the current $590,000 Memorial Courthouse was completed.
