Built about 25 years after Dixon County was established, the Dixon County Courthouse was built in 1883-84 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dixon County was established in 1858. Several communities competed for the county seat designation, including Concord, Dixon (a paper town), and Ponca. In 1858 the first election on the county seat question was held, and Ponca, which was established the previous year, won. Rival settlements exacted their revenge, however, by withholding approval for building a courthouse in Ponca for about twenty-five years. In 1940 an addition was built on the existing structure.