Van Buren County Courthouse

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, this 1843 courthouse is the oldest in Iowa which has remained in continuous use and the second oldest in the United States. In 1846, the courthouse was the scene of the first and only legal death sentencing in Van Buren County, that was handed down in the courtroom in 1845, a case on a change of venue from Washington County. The subject was found guilty and hanged north of the courthouse in “Hangman's Hollow” on April 4, 1846.