With the building still under construction on July 11, 1859, the Wisconsin Supreme Court annulled the 1858 county seat referendum on the grounds that insufficient notice had been published.

The Dodgeville courthouse was quickly put to use, holding a county board meeting on April 23 and a Union Civil War rally on May 2, 1861.

[10] Local resident Ernest Wiesen drew the plans for the courthouse, likely copying elements from the 1854 book The Modern Architect by Edward Shaw.

The exterior walls consist of buff-colored local Galena limestone and the entrances are framed with carved stone pilasters and pediments.

[9][5] The front facade features a portico of four wooden doric columns, which are tilted slightly inward to create an impression of solidity.