Cass County Courthouse

Fargo's current county courthouse is the third courthouse built for the town. The first opened in 1877 and later served as a YMCA building and boarding house. The second replaced it in the mid-1880s but burned during renovations in 1903. Architect Charles E. Bell designed the present courthouse in 1904, and it opened in 1906. In the 1970s, renovations converted the large courtroom into two smaller district courtrooms, and furnishings used in court proceedings from 1906 to 1967 were removed during reconstruction and donated to Bonanzaville in 1978. Judge Charles A. Pollock, shown among the framed district court judges on the walls, served as Judge of District Court for Cass County from 1897 to 1917. He became known as the father of the prohibition law in North Dakota after a prohibition bill he drafted passed the territorial council in 1889. By July 1, 1890, open saloons no longer operated across North Dakota except in a few communities that opposed the alcohol ban. Before nationwide prohibition in 1920, states had local option laws that allowed counties or towns to go dry, and Pollock was strict in alcohol-related matters because he believed sellers were equally guilty of crimes committed by drunk people they had served. He later served as President of the North Dakota Bar Association in 1921 and died on July 9, 1928.

North Dakota · United States