Blue Earth County is named for the Blue Earth River, which was named for the blue-green earth found near its mouth and used by the Dakota Native Americans as a pigment.
Created: March 5, 1853
Mankato 1853 – present
County Courthouse – Mankato
Location: 204 South 5th Street / East Walnut Street
Built: 1886 – 1887
Style: French and Italian Renaissance
Architect: Healy and Allen
Contractor: Ring and Tobin of Minneapolis
Description: The building faces west and is a three story buff colored Mankato stone structure. The building is located on a rise surrounded by landscaped grounds in the center of the city. The rectangular shaped building is 92 feet by 108 feet with a high square clock tower on the west side with a clock and statue of Lady Justice at the top. The west entrance has a rounded portico with steps on either side and a balcony on top. Corners of the pavilions have two-tiered pilasters with capitols. The windows are arranged in groups of three and capped by segmentally arched tymanums. There are dormers along the hipped roof. The building was renovated in 1919 and in 1929. Major renovations were done in 1960 to 1964. Further renovation was done in 1988. In 1990 to 1991 Schwickert Company removed and repaired the Lady Justice and the clock and carillon were installed by Schulmerich Carillon Company. In 2004, Jetter Clean restored the exterior.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Marion County Courthouse
Note: The first courthouse was built in 1857. In 1867 the second courthouse was built and the previous courthouse was torn down. The cost of construction of the present courthouse was $125,000.
County Justice Center – Mankato
Location: 401 Carver Road / Bassett Drive
Built: 2007 – 2009
Architect: Paulsen Architects and Klein McCarthy & Company
Contractor: CAM, Inc. ( Construction Analysis & Management, Inc. )
Description: The building faces west and is a two story red colored brick, buff colored stone, glass and concrete structure. The building is located on spacious grounds. The building has a rectangular north wing and a rectangular west wing with the glass paneled entrance at the junction of the wings on the northwest side. There is a curved one story section with four columns. The buff colored stone is along the bottom part of the building with red colored brick above. There is a south wing with the Justice Center Pond on the southeast. The roof line is flat. The courtrooms are located on the south side of the second story of the south wing.
E – Waseca County
County Justice Center
Photos taken 2007, 2015 and 2019