[2][3] The original courthouse was a log structure on the Big Sioux River in the hamlet of Calliope, Iowa (now part of Hawarden).

By the time the Sioux County Courthouse was completed, Beach had hired promising young William L. Steele (1875–1949) as his draftsman, and the two would later form a brief partnership.

Just five years later, lightning destroyed the top of the tower in 1907, and it was replaced with a hip roof and a 10-foot-tall cast bronze statue personifying Justice (Vrouwe Justitia).

More typically in Iowa or nearby South Dakota at this time, public buildings were done in a classical revival style, influenced by the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893.

[5][6][7] A deep rusticated arch forms the principal entrance at the base of the courthouse central tower, which is six stories tall.