The life of the Weston County Courthouse
By Bri Brasher
with Leonard Cash
NLJ Reporter
The News Letter Journal continues the History on Main series with local historian Leonard Cash. As we move up Main Street, Cash has shared his records on the Weston County Courthouse, which continues to stand as a feature of Newcastle’s downtown. Talk of the courthouse building began in 1908, according to Cash’s records, though courthouse proceedings had been occurring since the town’s inception.
Cash provided early information from the text “A Survey of Wyoming County Courthouses: Their history, architecture, documents, proceedings, and personnel,” published in 1972 by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Wyoming, collated and edited by Mrs. John B. Kendrick II, Historical Activities Committee member. The chapter on Weston County begins with the following:
“Weston County, located in the Northeastern section of Wyoming on the western slopes of the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, is fifty-one miles long and forty-six and a half miles wide, comprising over a million and a half acres, and has a population of about 4,000. Newcastle being the largest of the two incorporated towns of the county, is the county seat, with the court house located in the city, and the county officers and organizations make Newcastle their headquarters. Weston County is probably one of the richest counties in Wyoming in natural resources. The early development of Weston County is largely due to the discovery of coal where Cambria was later located.”
The book also states that the first election on record in the county occurred on May 14, 1890, when about 8,850 ballots were cast. The first meeting at the courthouse to organize a governing body for the county and to sort through ballots was held on May 16, 1890. Then, on Sept. 15, 1890, the commissioners met to discuss “levying the tax for the year 1890 and to pass on a resolution naming the first court house in which the county offices of the county would be conducted.”
According to the book, it was decided that a portion of the Kilpatrick Bros. & Collins building on the corner of Warren Avenue and Seneca Street — the Antlers Hotel — would be used as the office of the clerk of the district court, the office of the clerk and recorder of the county and the place where district court for Weston County would take place. The book said the courthouse was in the Antlers Hotel for about four years.
Cash added that when the courthouse was moved out of the Antlers, it moved across the street for a time before moving to a building in the library block. Cash said the building referenced was known as the McLaughlin building, the history of which was previously covered in the History on Main series.
“In the early (1890s) nineties the county purchased the block where the library is now located, repaired an old building, and used it for the courthouse until 1910, when a new building was erected,” according to the book.
On Nov. 13, 1908, the News Letter Journal reported that a vote was taken on the proposition of issuing bonds to construct a courthouse. The article said that 550 people were in favor of the proposition and 365 people were opposed, followed by a statement about the vote. “It is gratifying to see by the vote that the proposition was carried even without the vote of Newcastle. In other words, the people of the county outside of Newcastle have voted for the building of a court house on a site to be furnished by Newcastle without cost to the county.”
A new release carried in the 10.2 pt on March 9, 1909, announced that the commissioners had looked into a site for the new courthouse. It was also reported that bonds were let to the state of Wyoming. Cash said reports were also issued stating that the commissioners rejected several bids before agreeing to the bid from a Mr. C.A. Randall.
In April 1909, the 10.2 pt reported that “C. A. Randall of Casper, the architect under whose plans and supervisions some of the best building in the country have been constructed, was in Newcastle from Saturday until Tuesday night conferring with the commissioners relative to plans for the new court house. Mr. Randall has an excellent reputation for efficient and conscientious work, and we congratulate the commissioners for securing his services.” Randall, along with the foreman of the stonecutters, Oscar Lindeen, and Warren Sundstrom and John L. Sundstrom, the main stonecutters, were named in the book mentioned above as the primary contractors.
Additional news from April 30, 1909, discussed the relationship between the newly formed Newcastle Commercial Club and the commissioners. “The club decided by unanimous vote to present to the commissioners for county purposes, Lots 9-18 inclusive, Block 8, City of Newcastle. This gives the county the entire half block where the present county building is now located.” Cash said the building referenced was the McLaughlin building.
Also on April 30, 1909, the local news wrote of the courthouse building process: “It is the prevailing desire that the building be constructed of home material, but at first it was feared this could not be done at as low a cost as through the use of the stone at Hot Springs, and some thought our home stone was not equal to other stone for building purposes. … From two samples of stone examined by Mr. Randall, he was inclined to favor the use of Hot Springs stone, but on Tuesday he was taken by Mr. Nichols to a location a short distance from town and shown a veritable mountain of stone, different in quality from any he had seen.”
Mr. Nichols decided the local rock was superior to that from Hot Springs, and the accessibility of the local rock convinced him to use it for the new courthouse.
Cash shared records on Mr. Randall. Randall was born on July 9, 1873, in Indiana to Charles and Augusta. He married Frances H., also of Indiana in 1900. Records are a bit unclear in regards to Frances, because Randall then married again in 1909. Randall and his second wife, Grace L. Johnson, lived in Newcastle, according to the 1910 census. Cash’s records said he stayed in the state, later living in Sheridan and Buffalo.
“He was the architect for the courthouse in Casper that’s now demolished and the courthouse in Belle Fourche. And you know the Franklin Hotel in Deadwood? He built that too! He also did some work in Sheridan and Buffalo,” Cash said.
CORRECTION
In our page 6 story of the March 14 edition of the News Letter Journal, “Chronicles of the county library: Part VII,” we incorrectly reported the name of the contractor responsible for the extension of the Upton library in June of 1967 as Harold Julies. The contractor’s name was Harold Julien. The article also references a rock wall built in 1984, which still stands behind the library on Sumner Street rather than Seneca Street as previously reported. We regret the errors.