Jackson courthouse is crammed with history

If Cape Girardeau County moves forward with plans for a new courthouse in Jackson, it wouldn't be the first time its offices and courts moved from an old facility to occupy the new.

It wouldn't even be the second time.

Then ...

Courts in Jackson were housed in many buildings over the years until the historic courthouse standing today was completed in 1908. In 1814, court convened in the Bethel Baptist Church, awaiting construction of a court building. By the next year, the court was moved to a space attached to a house that sat on what is now the north side of Adams Street, between South High and South Hope streets.

According to a 100th anniversary Jackson Homecomers booklet published in 2008 and the Cape Girardeau County website, the first courthouse was constructed in 1818 at a cost of $2,450. The building also was used as a gathering place for churches and office rental space.

Cape Girardeau County Recorder of Deeds Andrew Blattner looks over items inside the "murder vault" at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse on Wednesday in Jackson. (Laura Simon)

Less than 20 years later, the old frame courthouse constantly needed repair and was considered insufficient and unsafe. The next courthouse was completed sometime between 1838 and 1842, but maintenance again became an issue as early as 1843, with the cupola and roof needing repair every three or four years.

County officials also began to wonder whether it needed a fireproof building because fireplaces and oil lamps still were used and the courthouse's location on one of the highest points in the city opened more opportunities for lightning strikes. Such concerns increased in 1870, when a fire broke out at the courthouse. Court was temporarily moved to the hall of the Jackson Turner Society on the corner of what now is South Georgia and East Adams streets.

The next courthouse was completed in 1872. The building also housed county offices, but it soon became crowded. Plans to build an addition were nixed in 1901 because of lack of revenue.

In 1905, residents presented petitions to the county asking for a special election to issue bonds to build a new courthouse with more space, fireproof vaults and improved sanitation. That August, voters approved the proposition, which funded the construction of the existing courthouse.

Now ...

Associate Commissioner Charlie Herbst takes photos inside the dome of the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse on Wednesday in Jackson. (Laura Simon)

One-hundred ten years later, county officials are going to the public with requests for a new courthouse, citing a few of the same problems. Even though county offices have long been moved to their own building, space is becoming scarce in the administration building, as well as the Jackson courthouse and Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau. The two courthouses also present difficulties for technical upgrades and pose security concerns for employees and court users.

In the Jackson courthouse basement are restrooms, a boiler room, file storage and offices and the small courtroom for drug court services. The court includes three treatment courts -- adult criminal, family and DWI. Drug court administrator Sheila Sauer said she hopes to include veterans and mental health treatment courts eventually as well.

Tight fit

But space already is tight for the growing drug court. Walls of the small courtroom are lined with chairs, and benches line the halls outside to accommodate seating needs on court days.

Upstairs, conditions can be snug, too. It features two courtrooms, where those awaiting entrance can sit in the company of a Civil War statue. The likeness of a soldier in the corner once adorned the top of the fountain on the Common Pleas lawn. A tree limb knocked the statue from its perch in 2003, breaking it into pieces "you could pick up in a five-gallon bucket," said county information technology director Eric McGowen. Looking at the statue, it's impossible to tell Dexter, Missouri, sculptor Alan Gibson had to painstakingly reassemble the statue. He also made a mold to create the identical soldier standing atop the Common Pleas fountain.

A few paces away from the statue is an area dedicated to record storage. McGowen said efforts are made to archive electronically as much as possible because of storage constraints and concerns about fire. While electronic archives are fairly new to the county, the room still contains historic pieces, including a card catalog with cards dating as far back as 1940.

"I've gone through thousands and thousands and thousands. I can't even imagine how many cards are in there," said records clerk Marie Dullum.

Some records can't be filed away electronically. Past the card catalog, attached to a conference room that serves as a waiting area to separate witnesses or victims from others involved in court proceedings, is a vault behind a door marked "treasurer." The vault is home to files and evidence from active homicide cases.

Access to the two-story vault housing items from closed cases -- dubbed the "murder vault" -- is available through offices of the prosecuting attorney. A winding staircase leads down to the vault floor. Crammed on the shelves or wedged between them are binders, boxes and posters -- even a wooden walking stick.

"With murder cases, you have to keep everything, from exhibits to files ... everything," said assistant prosecuting attorney Angel Woodruff.

"Crammed" could describe the condition of many courthouse rooms. In offices throughout the building, printers, coffee makers and extra seats are carefully arranged, occupying each corner and leaving sometimes narrow paths for room-to-room access.

Storage runs into the attic, where holiday decorations, paint and other miscellaneous items can be found. It also houses its share of treasures.

Under the dome

During the 1940 Jackson Homecomers Celebration, the courthouse dome was decorated with hundreds of bulbs and light streamers. McGowen said the lights still can be found tucked away in a dark corner, near the narrow opening that allows access to the roof.

Another flight of stairs leads to the bottom of the dome, which protects the bell and the clock pendulum. The striker remains from a time when the bell rang regularly, but those hoping to ring the bell have to rely on the attached rope. It's surrounded by windows, where the city of Jackson sprawls out below.

Before descending the final flight of stairs that leads to the top of the dome, the metallic ticking of the clock can be heard over gusts of wind. Old clock faces rest against a small room featuring the heart of the clock. Tools, oil cans and grease rags are evidence of the continuing maintenance required to keep the clock hands moving.

County officials don't often venture too far into the attic, much less the dome, but it's an experience they enjoy. Associate Commissioner Charlie Herbst said officeholders admire the historic building, as well as the Common Pleas Courthouse, as much as the public and have an interest in preserving them.

McGowen echoed that sentiment.

"I love our courthouses, both of them," he said. "They're just fantastic buildings."

srinehart@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

1 Barton Square, Jackson, Mo.