04/27/2026
From the archives - The new Iron County courthouse that almost was.
This was a Where is it Wednesday post from March 26, 2025
This week’s “Where is it Wednesday” post takes us to what I believe lays claim as the most iconic symbol of Iron County, the historic Iron County Courthouse. But did you know that there was a time when voters in the county voters almost decided to replace the historic courthouse with a new, modern structure? This is the story of the courthouse that almost was.
For those not familiar with the story of how the courthouse came about, here is its abridged biography. When Iron County was created in 1857 the first election to select a county seat was unsuccessful as none of the towns received a majority of the votes. Businessmen H. N. Tong and David Carson operated a store at the base of Shepherd Mountain, and they purchased a total of 112 acres of land from Cyrus Russell Sr. and others, had it surveyed, and laid out a plat for a town called Ironton. When they offered the proceeds from the sale of alternate lots to be used in the construction of a courthouse, Ironton was selected as the county seat in September 1857. In April 1858 the contract to build the courthouse was awarded to George Evans and William Mitchell at a cost of $14,000.00, with $10, 602.00 of that amount coming from the sale of the donated lots. The cornerstone of the courthouse was set on July 4, 1858, and the construction of the courthouse was completed in October 1860.
Now, fast forward to September 1938 where, for what is now the fourth time, Iron County voters are being asked to support a bond issue to replace the county’s aging courthouse. The three previous bond issues, all for $70,000.00 in funds to help pay for construction costs, failed. In each of those attempts, the estimated cost of the new courthouse was estimated at $127,000.00 and each of those votes required a two-thirds majority to pass (each failed with a significant majority “yes” vote, but all below the needed two-thirds majority).
Now, plans had been slightly scaled back, with the projected cost of the new courthouse reduced to $109,000.00 “made possible by planning the building on a slightly smaller scale but providing exactly the same facilities and the same type of construction and finish.” Changes included a slightly smaller courtroom of 45’ x 45’ instead of 50’ x 50’ and other rooms being reduced proportionally.
An artist rendition of the proposed new courthouse appears with this post. Quoted below is the rest of the September 22, 1938, article Iron County Register article:
“The proposition is being resubmitted at this time on petition of a group of citizens of Iron County because on September 30th the PWA [Public Works Administration] will discontinue consideration of propositions under the Federal building program and it was felt that the voters of the County should have a final opportunity to avail themselves of a Federal Grant amounting to 45 percent of the total estimated cost of the new building.
The Federal Government has already been asked to contribute $49,000.00 towards the construction of a new Courthouse. This Government contribution will be an outright cash gift that never has to be repaid. In other words, the $109,000.00 Courthouse project can be built at this time at a cost to the people of Iron County of only $69,000.00, the amount of the Bond Issue. Of the total estimated cost of $109,000.00, $91,000.00 is for building construction, $5,000.00 for furniture and equipment and the remaining $13,000.00 covers such items as Bond Attorney, Interest on Bonds during the period of construction, Architect’s fee, Engineers’ fees, and contingencies.
The cost of the proposed Courthouse bonds to the people of the County will average 8 cents on the $100 valuation. In other words, a person paying a $1000.00 assessed valuation will pay 80 cents per year and this levy will not start until after the building is completed, at which time the present Road Bond issue will have been completely retired. Taxes will then be very much less than they are at present as the levy for 1938 for the Road bonds is 50 cents per $100.
The present courthouse was built in 1858. It is entirely inadequate for the function of the County government, has no heating system, and no plumbing. Valuable land and court records are exposed daily to the hazards of fire. Offices are without sufficient room for the work to be done there; the court does, and has for years, rented space outside the courthouse for some County officers; when the Circuit Court is in session, space is so limited that those participating in the work are uncomfortable and so inconvenienced that it takes more time and much more expense to dispose of litigation than would otherwise be required.
It is proposed to build the new Courthouse of red grante with concrete floor and roof slabs—entirely fireproof. All of the wall and floor material will be native products. Walls will be quarried from granite quarries in the County and sand and gravel taken from County pits. The building as proposed, contains fireproof vaults, adequate offices for all County officials, provides much needed space for Social Security Boards and other government agencies which the County has to house, contains a modern court room with all surrounding accessories—judges’ chambers, Prosecuting Attorney’s office, law library, jury room, et cetera. The building will have the most modern system of heating and adequate plumbing, and rest rooms for both men and women. The need of modern rest rooms, particularly for women and children of county residents coming into Ironton to trade, has been felt for a long time.
Practically all of the construction could be done by Iron County residents. Quarrymen, stone cutters, lumbermen, carpenters, masons, plumbers, truckmen, laborers, merchants, and farmers would profit. This project, in addition to providing a much-needed improvement, would release into the County itself a large part of the $109,000.00 total cost.
The architect of the project, Hal Lynch, has a background of 26 years’ experience and has built such buildings as the high school at Farmington, school at Esther, and the addition to the Junior College at Flat River. He is at present time serving the following communities of Southeast Missouri as architect for various types of buildings—Cape Girardeau, Festus, Sikeston, Charleston, Chaffee, Caruthersville, Steelville and St. Clair. He is building a modern jail and modernizing the Courthouse for Mississippi County and has done most of the work for the City of Clayton for many years. Mr. Lynch has a large amount of experience with work under both the PWA and WPA [Works Progress Administration] programs of the government and has a reputation for integrity, modern design and economical construction.”
Despite the support of the Iron County Register, the voters of Iron County saw it differently and the bond issue was defeated in the special election held on 27 September 1938. While 1,308 Iron County voters supported the proposal, 881 voters opposed it falling short of the needed two-thirds majority by some 152 votes. The publisher of the Iron County Register, F. P. Ake, didn’t mince words about his disappointment when he said, “A vote against the courthouse bonds can be attributed to ignorance or cussedness. We can see no other way.”
Now let’s fast forward to 1957 where Ruth Ricketts described the conditions in the courthouse as they existed at that time:
“The offices occupying the Iron County Courthouse in 1957 were the County Superintendent of Schools, the Probate and Magistrate Judge, the Treasurer, the County Clerk, the Circuit Clerk and Recorder of Deeds, and the Collector on the first floor. The Sheriff’s Office was on the second floor near the Circuit Court Room. The Assessor and Prosecuting Attorney had offices that were not in the courthouse. The floors of the courthouse were the original wooden floors. To clean the floors and keep down the dust, the officeholders would occasionally sprinkle a mixture of oil and sawdust on the floors on Friday afternoon and sweep it off on Monday morning. There were wood heating stoves in [each] office. The wood pile was at the west end of the building. The only janitorial service we had consisted of a man who built the fires early in the mornings. We kept the fires going during office hours. We had to clean our offices.
The only lighting fixture in the County Clerk’s office was one drop cord with a light bulb above each desk. There was one manual typewriter and one adding machine. There were no metal filing cabinets. Paper and supplies were kept on shelves in cabinets that were built into the walls. There were no indoor restroom facilities. There were outdoor toilets on the west side near the sidewalk that were not maintained and presented a health hazard. Dr. George Gay and others were instrumental in having them torn down. Some used the restroom at Ironton City Hall. There were no fans. Each office had a screen door, and we kept the east and west doors to the courthouse open and that created a breeze through the hallway and helped cool the offices. Someone rigged an old refrigerator with a pipe and faucet coming out the side so we could get a cool drink of water. It was in the hallway outside the County Clerk’s office.”
A bond issue was again presented to voters in 1962 to provide funds for the construction of a new jail and an addition to the courthouse, but failed, “…primarily because the voters opposed the building of a new jail.” Finally, with the proposal to build a new jail removed, Iron County voters approved a new bond issue in 1963 to construct an addition to the courthouse. Completed in 1964 at a final cost of $13,241.00 the addition provided, “seven new office spaces and three restrooms, central heating and air conditioning, and a vault with steel doors for record books. The old part of the building was renovated with new wiring, paneled walls, and tiled floors. The Circuit Courtroom on the second floor was renovated and new seats were installed. The spittoon, which was near the judge’s bench, was removed.
Today, our historic courthouse has been part of a multi-year restoration process. If you haven’t been there in a number of years, you might not recognize it. For one thing, its exterior is no longer painted red. I don’t know when its exterior was first painted, but in the memory of most, it has been red since they can remember. The problem was that moisture was getting behind the paint and doing damage to the over 160-year-old brick and mortar. That has now all been stabilized and the exterior of the courthouse is back to its original natural brick color. It took some time for me to get used to it, but it’s growing on me. Oh, and you can still see where a cannonball struck the eastern face of the courthouse during the Battle of Pilot K**b in September 1864. The interior of the courthouse is something that you just have to see for yourself. Many of the details of the original design of the courthouse were incorporated in its renovation and it is nothing less than beautiful. The restoration project also took on the historic Iron County Sheriff's House and Jail, providing much needed stabilization to that building and finally upgrading the jail cells that had been in use since the late 1860s. The final part of the restoration project will complete the renovations to the gazebo that sits on the courthouse lawn. You can view many photographs of the renovations on the Iron County Courthouse Restoration Project - Iron County, Missouri page.
