The Phelps County Courthouse is the civic heart of Rolla, a dignified neoclassical building dating from 1927 that anchors the downtown area. Its limestone facade and central dome are typical of the courthouses that replaced fire-destroyed predecessors across the Midwest during the early twentieth century. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The courthouse square is a pleasant place to sit on a warm afternoon, and the surrounding streets give a sense of what small-town Missouri looks like away from the commercial strips along the highway. The old county jail — a separate National Register building from 1860 — stands nearby on Park Street.