The County Ag Building

By Bri Brasher 
with Leonard Cash
NLJ Reporter
 
Historian Leonard Cash continues to add to the History on Main series in telling the story of Newcastle’s downtown and its people. Moving lot by lot, Cash decided to piggyback off the county jail articles to tell the timeline of the county building—commonly known as the ag building—that was once located between the second documented county jail and city hall in block 8. 
The building’s story began in January of 1940 with a News Letter Journal article titled “New county building may solve crowded vault space.” It was reported that the county commissioners and county officials of the time were studying a proposal to erect a building to house the county farm agencies, which were then situated in the courthouse. Needed vault space could be accommodated in the courthouse should the county farm agencies move from the basement of the courthouse to a new building. The newspaper noted that the courthouse would only be a temporary fix for the vault space issue until a more permanent solution could be found.
“For several months, three county offices have been crowded for vault room. The growing need for more room to house the county records of the past fifty years has been felt tremendously in the offices of the treasurer, clerk and clerk of the district court,” the News Letter Journal reported. “The AAA offices now located in the county agent’s office have also become crowded and need for more office space has been evident there.” 
The county building was to be located north of the county jail and proposed to be 24 by 60 feet in size, composed of eight rooms for county office space, including Triple A offices and the Farm Security office. 
“It was really built to relieve some of the congestion in the courthouse,” said Cash, adding that the building also put all the ag organizations and offices in one place, conveniently near the courthouse.
Next, on July 25, 1940, a News Letter Journal article announced the start of construction on the $11,000 county building. The article said that excavation had begun for the new county building adjacent  to the courthouse, and 10 Works Progress Administration employees were hard at work on the project. Here it was reiterated that the building was to house county farm agencies, including the county agent. 
Additionally, the county welfare offices — then located in the armory — were to be moved to the offices occupied by the Farm Security Administration after its move to the new building. Cash explained that the move from the armory was a good one because of the heavy heating expense for the current welfare offices in that building. He also added that the 4-H office was located in the new county building. 
The News Letter Journal reported that the building was projected to be completed in about four months’ time. The article further described the building plans: “The basement will be constructed four feet below the ground and four feet above, which will require an 8 foot stone wall. The basement floor will be of concrete. The upper story of the building, which is to be 24 by 60 feet in size, will include eight rooms, with the largest 12 by 24 feet to be used for group meetings and other gatherings. The other seven rooms will be of a much smaller nature. The floor will be of hardwood.”
The next report on the building was published in the News Letter Journal on May 1, 1941. According to the state headquarters, the new county office building cost the county $5,315. The project was completed by the WPA, which Cash explained was a federal program started by President Franklin Roosevelt to help employ people during the Great Depression. 
As previously stated, the construction of the county building employed 10 men. The News Letter Journal reported that the men worked for a combined total of 9,955 hours, and the project cost the WPA $4,981.02 for labor and $548.78 for materials and other labor costs, equaling a total federal investment of $5,529.80. The May 1, 1941, article also said the WPA’s sewing room was in the basement of the new building. 
“They had a bunch of ladies that sewed goods to send to the men in the war,” said Cash. “My grandmother worked on that here in Newcastle,” said Cash. “They sewed thousands of pieces—socks, hats, blankets, and many other things to ship. A lot if it went overseas. It was a great war effort. They helped out a lot.”
Additional space in the new building went to the Inyan Kara Grazing Association, with other office space also available at that time. 
“ASCS Moving Offices” was the headline of a story published in the News Letter Journal years later. On Oct. 11, 1984, the paper reported the following: “The Weston County ASCS office will be moving to 723 Washington Street (in the Park Plaza) Oct. 15. This is the first time the office has moved since the Ag Building at 22 North Summit was built in 1939.” Cash suspects that the year 1939 was a misprint in the article, as all other articles in his research indicate that the building was finished in 1940. The 1984 article also clarified that the ASCS office was previously known by several other names, such as Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), War Foods Administration (WFA), Price and Marketing Administration (PMA)—and then at the time—the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS).
Cash said the county ag building was torn down at the same time as the county jail. The News Letter Journal reported on the building’s removal in the March 19, 1987, issue. It was said that county crews and contract personnel removed the county jail and the ag building the week prior, and the land was to be used as a parking lot. Cash said the parking lot is located behind the courthouse and still in use today.