The first Osceola County Courthouse shared space with a school and church in a modest, wood-frame building constructed in the county seat of Sibley in November 1872 at a cost of $4,500. Twenty-nine years later, a special election was held and voters passed a $50,000 bond referendum to construct a new courthouse building. Work started in 1902 and the new Osceola County Courthouse was formally dedicated in September 1903. While the building’s original design is mostly in tact, a few changes have been made since construction including the removal of a tall square cupola from the center of the building and the installation of an elevator in 1974. The Osceola County Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.