The top hat-wearing grand master of Iowa’s Masons presided over a rededicationceremony in front of the courthouse at 701 Central Ave., following the $6 million restoration job.

“May the structure here erected have been contrived by wisdom, executed in strength and adorned with beauty,” said Grand Master William W. Post, of West Des Moines. “May it long be preserved as a monument of the energy and liberality of its founders and of this free and enlightened government under whose protecting care it is our privilege to live.”

The current courthouse, completed in 1902, was not the first one in Webster County. Former Webster County Supervisor Bob Singer summarized the history of courthouses in Fort Dodge.

The first of those courthouses, he said, was completed in 1861. He said it measured 50-by-100- feet and cost just under $50,000 to build.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
William W. Post, left in top hat, the grand master of the Masons in Iowa, and John M. Lizer, grand marshal of the Masons, prepare to walk through an honor cordon of Masons during Saturday’s rededication ceremony for the Webster County Courthouse.

According to Singer, in 1899 the county recorder stated that the county would have to stop storing records or move out of the courthouse.

In 1900, he said, the Board of Supervisors decided to build a new courthouse, which is the one that stands today.

C.H. Koch was the architect and Northern Building Co. was the general contractor.

Singer said the cost of the project was $108,907.

Koch’s design, Singer said, “has withstood the test of time.”

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Michael R. Jensen, left, the junior grand steward of the Masons, and Harvey N. Woody, the senior grand steward, place flowers on the ceremonial cornerstone during Saturday’s rededication of the Webster County Courthouse.

While the design has withstood the test of time, the woodwork in the clock tower and the copper covering it wore out. The massive restoration project, which encased the courthouse in scaffolding for about a year, was launched to fix those problems.

Neumann Brothers of Des Moines had a $6,160,000 contract for the job.

Work began in 2020 and was completed last spring.

Webster County Supervisor Mark Campbell acknowledged the key role fellow Supervisor Nick Carlson had in the project.

“Without him, I don’t think we would be here,” Campbell said. “He was the lead on this project and spent a lot of time with the architect and the contractors.”

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
William W. Post, the grand master of Masons in Iowa, left, presents the ceremonial square, level and plumb to Kevin Binder, a structural engineer with Shuck-Britson Inc., of Des Moines, during the rededication ceremony. Binder worked on the Webster County Courthouse clock tower restoration project.

The rededication ceremony was full of the rituals of the Masons’ Grand Lodge of Iowa. Masons, including some carrying swords and pikes, formed a procession in front of the courthouse.

A ceremonial cornerstone placed on a table was the focus of the Masons. Post said that cornerstone was found to be “well formed, true and trusty and correctly laid, according to the rules of our ancient craft.”

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Former Webster County Supervisor Bob Singer, right, holds a photo of the first courthouse to sit at the corner of Central Avenue and Seventh Street while curent Supervisor Mark Campbell holds the microphone for him. The courthouse in the photo was replaced by the current structure, which was rededicated Saturday.