In 1871, Pioche became the county seat of Lincoln County, taking that honor from Hiko, and local leaders soon decided to build a courthouse there. In 1872, T. Dimmock and Thomas Keefe designed the building, and $26,400 was appropriated for its construction. The construction contract was broken, however, and because of separate contracts the building's eventual cost rose to $75,000, paid by issuing bonds. Over the next 30 years, new bonds were issued to pay off the previous ones, and by the 1880s the county unsuccessfully tried to reupdate the bonds. In 1907, the state of Nevada passed a repayment plan for 65% of the existing debt. The courthouse cost, which topped $800,000, was finally paid off in 1938, two years after the building was condemned. Its extraordinary cost led to the nickname the Million Dollar Courthouse.