The life of the Weston County Courthouse: Part V

Part V
 
By Bri Brasher 
with Leonard Cash
NLJ Reporter
 
While the initial work on the Weston County Courthouse concluded in 1911, the life of the courthouse was just beginning. In fact, the courthouse was largely finished just in time for President William Howard Taft to address the community from its steps in October 1911. An advertisement announcing the event was printed in the Sept. 29, 1911, issue of the News Letter Journal. 
According to Cash’s records, the paper published on Oct. 13, 1911, that President Taft and a party of 21 were scheduled to arrive the following Friday afternoon and stay in Newcastle overnight after dining at the home of Rep. Frank Mondell. A military and civic parade was planned to lead the party to the courthouse, and the streets and buildings were to be decorated for the occasion. 
The News Letter Journal reported that “Newcastle invites the people of the surrounding towns and country to assist by their presence in giving the President of the United States a fitting welcome to our town and county. That the President will give so long a visit to so small a town is not only a compliment to Congressman Mondell, but is also an honor to the entire community.”
A follow-up article then ran in the paper on Oct. 27, 1911. The paper reported on the occasion of the president’s visit in “Weston County Does Herself Proud: In Spite of Inclement Weather Hundreds of People Arrived in Newcastle to Greet the Chief Executive of the Nation.” The article began with the following: “Friday, October 20th 1911 is a day long to be remember in the annals of Newcastle’s history, it being the day when this city as its guest for fourteen hours, the chief executive of the United States, Wm. H. Taft, who, with his party, arrived that afternoon promptly, four o’clock.” 
The article went on to say that the city decorated well with the national colors to honor the event, which culminated on the steps of the
new Weston County Courthouse. Cash continued with the building’s tale, beginning again in 1912. 
C.A. Randall must have made another trip to Belle Fourche, South Dakota, as it was yet again announced that he returned to Newcastle after a trip there. The Jan. 18, 1912, article in the News Letter Journal reported that the Randalls planned to take up residence in Newcastle again. However, in March 1912, the paper said that Mrs. C.A. Randall finished packing up household goods to depart for Belle Fourche, where the family was expected to spend their summers. 
A series of robberies took place in Newcastle and Cambria in April 1912, and the robbers were sentenced in the Weston County Courthouse in May. James Clark received two and a half to five years. Harry Scott was sentenced to one to four years. Matt Lawrence was sentenced to three to six years. The crimes included theft of money, knives and other goods from various local businesses. Cash said this was the first major trial to take place in the new courthouse under Judge C.H. Parnelee. 
Later that summer, in the Aug. 15, 1912, issue of the News Letter Journal, a bid notice announced that the county commissioners would “receive sealed bids for the purchase and removal of the old court house building.” The notice said the building needed to be removed from its present site (the McLaughlin building on the library lot) within 30 days from the date of sale. According to the paper’s bid notice, the county clerk was to accept bids until Sept. 4, 1912, at 1 p.m.
With the courthouse established and in working order, reports in the local press became less frequent. Cash’s records jump to April 20, 1916, when an update on the property’s landscaping was printed in the News Letter Journal. The article said as follows: “The work of preparing the court house and library yards for seeding to grass is progressing rapidly and only a short time will elapse until the job is completed. A nice lawn about these premises will make a marked improvement in the looks of the two handsome buildings situated thereon. F.H. Barnes & Sons, the painters, have begun painting the wood and steel work of the county court house making another improvement to that structure. Weston County has as fine a court house as any in the state considering the size, and the county commissioners intend to preserve its appearance by the free use of paint which is certainly a good idea.”
About a year later on March 8, 1917, the courthouse received an upgrade to its interior. The News Letter Journal reported that “an up to date drinking fountain was placed in the court house lobby Monday. It is white enamel with three spraying tubes on the large dish. The old fountain that was installed in the wall has been taken down.”
Further upgrades were also reported on March 8, 1917, which reportedly made the courthouse “one of the best in the western states.” The News Letter Journal wrote that along with a new bailiff station in the courtroom and new curtains behind the jury box, a new coat of varnish was applied to the room. A new metal typewriter, desk, chair and filing cases of the latest design were also ordered by the county attorney, while the furniture and typewriter previously used by the attorney was moved to the law library for visiting attorneys to use. 
“Weston county can well feel proud of the court house because it has every modern equipment,” the newspaper reported. 
On April 26, 1917, the local press said work on the library and courthouse lawns was underway and already “quite green” and expected to be pretty over the summer. Cash’s records skip to the next year in March of 1918, when it was reported that Frank Barnes was doing some repair work at the courthouse on damages caused by a leaking roof. Soon after, postholes for a fence were dug around the property. Cash said Barnes was a painter in town. 
In June 1918, the News Letter Journal reported that “County Agent George Holmstead, last Tuesday moved his office into the newly finished room in the northeast corner of the court house basement.” Holmstead worked from a desk in the assessor’s office (which Cash said was in the old courthouse, known as the McLaughlin building) before his move to the courthouse. A few months later on Aug. 8, 1918, W.O. Carleton also moved his office to the basement of the courthouse building in the office of county agent Holmstead. Carleton’s office was previously located in the Nichols block (block 10 where Perkins Tavern is now, according to Cash). Then in December 1918, D.A. Fakler moved from the Fakler building to the attorney’s office too, as reported in the News Letter Journal. Cash said Fakler was the county attorney. 
The News Letter Journal published another improvement on May 15, 1919: “J.W. Morgan has been busy this week in digging and setting out elm trees in the court house square. In a few years these trees will make another improvement in the look of our city to ourselves as well as to strangers coming in.” 
Later that fall on Oct. 2, 1919, Mrs. D.A. Fakler “presented the county with a handsome Oleander tree last week and placed it in the court house lobby.” The tree was reported to be “covered with beautiful blossoms.”
On June 23, 1921, the News Letter Journal reported that striped red-and-white awnings were added to the west window of the courthouse where the clerk of the district court, A.M. Nelson, and the county treasurer, Chloe Faulkner, could “reap the benefits of this thoughtfulness on the part of the county commissioners.” Cash’s records then move to January of 1924.
The News Letter Journal published in a second story of “much needed repair work” at the courthouse. Jack Cross was working on plastering, while Frank H. Barnes and Ollie were painting and decorating. Ollie’s last name was not listed in the article, but Cash said he was the son of Frank Barnes, and he often helped his father work. Little was reported on the courthouse until more repairs were needed in the spring of 1927. Mack Payton was in charge of putting a coating on the roof of the courthouse that had been leaking during heavy snows, as reported in the News Letter Journal. 
“That leak was up on the dome. They had trouble with that ever since it was built, and they still do!” said Cash. 
More of the life of the Weston County Courthouse will be covered in next week’s installment of the History on Main series.