The Howell County Courthouse sits in the middle of this district which is listed on the National Register of Historic places. The district encompasses 46 contributing buildings developed between 1881 and 1950. It includes representative examples of Italianate, Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, Late Gothic Revival and Art Deco style architecture. The 1893 Catron Opera House crowns the historic district.
The layout style of the square surrounding the courthouse is a “Lancaster” square, named after an 18th-century model in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is fairly unusual, only seven such plans were used in Missouri. Four streets enter the square at midpoints on all four sides of the courthouse rather than at the corners which is more typical. Traffic is one way around the square. The unusual square arrangement created four “arcades” (pedestrian walkways) which have their own historical significance.
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