When the seat of government moved from Hawthorne to Goldfield in 1907, county commissioners authorized the construction of a new county facility. The first courthouse still stands in Hawthorne where it later served Mineral County.

At a cost of $80,000, the construction contract for the Goldfield courthouse went to John Shea of Salt Lake City. Completed in 1908, the two-story structure measures 75-feet across by 85-feet in depth, with a 30-by-50-foot jail located behind it.

The building contains a second-floor courtroom, offices for the district judge, attorney, and county officials, and a basement housing the furnace and storage space. The interior decor consists of yellow pine details with gray paint and linoleum floors. Often considered an adaptation of a Mission Revival influence, the structure does not employ a particular architectural style. The exterior was finished with a rough stone-block facade and parapets at the top, which give the building a medieval appearance. The harsh facade of the courthouse seems to echo a turbulent time. Its construction coincided with a period of intense labor conflict in Goldfield's mining industry.