The following is one of a continuing series of articles on the Great Depression by local historian of that era, Wilbur Bush.
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Part 1
Daviess County’s first courthouse was a private residence at the home of Elisha B. Creekmore from April, 1837, until March 1838. Both the county and the circuit courts met there. On March 26, 1838, a plan was presented and approved to build a $6,000 courthouse.
Mr. Creekmore’s home was outside of the county seat. In 1839, it was decided that court should be held in Gallatin. In 1840, the plans for the courthouse were accepted. Some of the specifications were that the building was to be four square, the foundation was to be three feet thick, the brick wall of the first story to be 18 inches thick, second story 13 inches thick. By 1843, the contract was complete with a final cost of $8,094.
Reflecting back on the courthouse, the editor of the Gallatin Democrat reported in 1909, that the old courthouse was probably a 40 by 40 square with two door openings, one each on the west and the south. The courtroom took up the entire lower floor. The rostrum was on the north side and built so high the feet of those on it were above the eye level of the seated spectators. The courtroom was furnished with wooden benches. There were four rooms upstairs, one too small for any practical use, but it served as a room for the early day lawyers.
A single story, two-room structure was built about 1858 just east of the courthouse and in it was the circuit clerk and recorder, the offices being under one official at that time. There were no vaults and the records had to be kept in desks or racks having little or no protection. A wooden tower surrounded by a balcony, and decorated with a brass ball the size of a washtub, topped the building.
The old building grew more and more unsatisfactory and in 1883 the Frank James trial was held on the west side of the public square in a building owned by Judge Alexander. The old courthouse was torn down in 1886, but the building site remained for several more years.
In 1889, a proposition to erect a $50,000 courthouse was voted down by a slim margin. Another election was held on the question of erecting a new courthouse not to exceed $70,000. It would be paid for in bonds not to exceed 25 cents on the dollar evaluation. Once again, the levy was defeated.
In 1890 the building owned by Judge Alexander burned and the probate records were destroyed. Several propositions to vote bonds for a new courthouse were voted down.
In 1905, it was proposed to build a $75,000 courthouse to be paid off by a special tax of four direct levies of 25 cents each, rather than by issuing bonds. The needed number soon passed. The first meeting of architects was held in Gallatin on April 5, 1906. Plans were soon approved and on July 9, the plans were submitted by P.H. Weathers & Co. of Kansas City. The contract for the erection of the courthouse was let on Aug. 27, 1906, to M.T. Lewman & Co. of Louisville, Ky., for $69,650. The contract price was a little higher than the court expected to pay, but the price of labor and materials had risen and, by delaying, the costs might have been higher. However, it looked as though the court made a wise decision because there were five bids for the project and the highest bid was $91,000. The site where the new courthouse would sit was the park, located in the center of the square. The contractors filed their bond for $70,000 on Aug. 29. The ground-breaking for the new building was held on Nov. 6, 1906. The target date to finish the work was January, 1908.
The foundation of the new courthouse was started in early November. By this time an office and storage building had been erected in the park for the use of those in charge of the work. Teams and men were at work excavating for the foundation while others were breaking rock for the concrete. It was beneficial to the town because it paid good wages and provided employment for those in the community as the company had consented to use as much local help as they could.
The walls were to be put in and the building roofed in one year and the remaining part in two years. The dimensions of the building were to be 81 feet from east to west, and 106 feet from north to south and it would be three stories high with jury room space provided in the attic. The exterior walls were to be faced with stone, the roof covered with slate, have modern plumbing, electric wiring and steam heat, and be fireproof on all floors. It would also have a heating plant and coal bins located in a sub-basement. There were to be four entrances to the building.