Hughes County Courthouse and Library

The Hughes County Courthouse was built and occupied in February 1935, to replace the original 1883 brick structure. The new Courthouse was designed by architects Hugill and Blatherwick of Sioux Falls and constructed by Henry Carlson Company of Sioux Falls at a cost of $129,410. The walls are cut South Dakota granite with Hot Springs sandstone trim.

The Fire Marshall declared the 1883 courthouse unsafe, due to its 16 heating stoves and faulty wiring. The brick building was leveled by WPA Labor. The original bricks salvaged from the courthouse were reused to line the interior walls of the 1935 courthouse. The outside concrete nameplate from the old courthouse was placed on a first floor wall of the new building.

The Pierre Historic Preservation Commission erected this historical marker with funds from the Hughes County Commission and the City of Pierre in 2001. Site of the First Library in Pierre. Built in 1904 with a $12,500 gift from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, the Library opened its doors on March 10, 1905.

The Pierre Women’s Club provided the first collection of 800 books. The Neo-Classical Library built of native-cut boulders, and the small dome provided light for the reading room on the main floor. The Pierre Carnegie Library operated until 1972, when the Rawlins Library opened. The building became county offices until gutted by fire in 1995.

The Pierre Historical Preservation Commission erected this marker with funds from the Hughes County Commission and the City of Pierre in 2001.