The Walworth County courthouse on October 16, 2016
Walworth County was created in 1836 when the Wisconsin territorial legislature divided Milwaukee County. The new county was not officially organized until 1839, so that is the date typically given for the founding of the county. Walworth County is named for Reuben Hyde Walworth, an American lawyer and politician from New York. He had a distinguished career, but after reading his biography, I find it kind of strange that a county in Wisconsin was named for him when he was still alive and only 48 years old.
The county seat is Elkorn; the other notable city in the county is Whitewater. The name of the city apparently comes from Colonel Samuel Phoenix who spotted a rack of elk antlers in a tree and proclaimed the area as “Elk Horn.” Most of the original settlers in the Elkhorn area came from New England, and Elkhorn is laid out like a New England town with a town square at its center. The first town meeting was held in 1846, which is the same year that Elkhorn became the county seat. Since 1851 Elkhorn has hosted the Walworth County Fair.
The Walworth County courthouse (or “Judicial Center”) is located at 1800 County Road NN in Elkhorn, though the government administrative offices are located in downtown Elkhorn at 100 West Walworth Street. I visited Elkhorn on the morning of October 16th, 2016. I stopped first at the Judicial Center, which is on the outskirts of town. In fact it’s on the other side of US Highway 12. The Judicial Center is part of a “campus” of various county offices, including the sheriff’s office and the health and human services office, that were relocated in the last dozen years or so. The Judicial Center was built in 2004 and it is a very striking building. I’m sure when the trees in front have grown more, it will soften the starkness of the building a little.
After taking some pictures I drove into town and saw the administrative offices. The building (1962) is located in the town square, and I’m pretty sure this is the old courthouse building, mainly because Court Street runs along one side of the square. Plus, there is the veterans memorial in front of the building. The Elkhorn Police department and municipal court occupy one wing of the building.
I don’t have a lot of memories of Walworth County but I have visited it several times. I do remember driving through the campus of UW – Whitewater in the mid 1970s. I was starting to think about college and we drove through Whitewater to check it out. I had already pretty much decided to go to UW – Madison, so it was kind of a waste of time. UW -Whitewater is a good school but not good enough to make me change my mind. I also remember visiting the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay with my grandmother in the early 1970s. We came on a day trip from Madison and toured the Observatory and then went on a boat cruise around Lake Geneva. The cruise was a lot of fun and we had a beautiful summer day to enjoy the lake.