A look back at the McLaughlin building part II

By Bri Brasher 
with Leonard Cash
NLJ Reporter
 
Leonard Cash began the tale of a building few likely remember in last week’s News Letter Journal. The History on Main series features the end of the McLaughlin building’s timeline this week. 
After the McLaughlin Drug Co. sold the business’ fixtures and stock in the fall of 1890, records held by Cash show that “D. W. Fawkes and Co. yesterday closed the deal for the purchase of the McLaughlin Drug company stock and will consolidate it with their stock. The McLaughlin store room will be used for the saloon business.” Cash said Fawkes and company consolidated the McLaughlin stock with their drug store’s stock in block 10. Meanwhile, McLaughlin soon received new fixtures for a saloon in the former drug store space, according to Cash. 
Records then jump to 1895 when M.B. Camplin bought the McLaughlin building and remodeled it for a courtroom. On May 31, 1895, the local press noted that M.B. Camplin was remodeling the McLaughlin building to get ready for the new county offices for a cost of about $1,000. Cash explained that the McLaughlin building was the courthouse’s third home in Newcastle. The courthouse was first located in the Antlers Hotel before moving across the street from the current Weston County administrative office — formerly Pinnacle Bank — near where Elliott Chiropractic is currently located. From there, courthouse business was conducted out of the McLaughlin building until the present courthouse was built. 
Then, on June 28, 1895, it was reported that the building was ready for occupancy, and that the county was set to move in the next day “if the weather is suitable.” However, work continued on the building. Cash’s records indicate that as of Nov. 8, 1985, workmen were setting up the space to be used as a courtroom, which Cash said means that the courthouse operations were officially moving into the building, along with the county offices. The offices and carpentry work were officially completed as noted in a Nov. 22, 1895, news story. 
With the carpentry work done, all that was left were finishing touches, according to a news report on Feb. 14, 1896. Cash suspects that furniture was placed in April of 1896 when it was said that the courtroom was being “fitted for holding court next week.”
Cash’s records then move to the summer of 1904 when the News Letter Journal reported that contractor Dow and a force of men were busy with repairs at the McLaughlin building, which Cash said was widely known simply as the courthouse at this time. The June 10, 1904, article discussed the building’s steel siding. The front of the building was brick veneer, according to Cash. He added that the steel siding was used to protect the building and the steel was more fireproof. Today, Cash said, steel is not used because there are cheaper and better-looking products. Also in the summer of 1904, “The county building looks very neat in its new coat of paint,” according to the News Letter Journal. The article encouraged other business owners to follow the example.
Two years later in July of 1906, the News Letter Journal reported that the brick veneer on the front of the building was taken down to be rebuilt. Then, on August 24, 1906, work resumed on the vault at the county building. The article reported that the vault room was undergoing some expansion, which had been needed for some time to protect papers from fire. The project was said to be completed soon. 
The next note in Cash’s records is a reference to an August 28, 1908, article in the News Letter Journal, which said that Mrs. Anna Beck moved into the second floor of the McLaughlin building. Cash said she must have rented a room there as her residence. 
Cash explained that the current courthouse was built in 1911, so the McLaughlin building’s time in Newcastle began to come to a close. On Aug. 15, 1912, notice was given in the News Letter Journal that the Weston County commissioners would receive sealed bids for the removal of the building, stipulating that 30 days would be allowed to remove the building after the bids. However, no bids were received for the purchase of the courthouse by September, according to Cash. 
The discussion continued into the fall of 1912. “Notice is hereby given that the board of commission will offer public sale at auction, commissioners have the right to reject any and all bids,” wrote the News Letter Journal on Oct. 17, 1912. 
Cash said it was decided that there were too many repairs needed on the building to make it serviceable, so the commissioners decided on an auction. Then, on Nov. 21, 1912, the old courthouse building was sold to the highest bidder, though the bidder’s name was not recorded, to Cash’s knowledge. However, it was noted in the News Letter Journal that L.C. Thoeming bid $125 for the bolt door — the steel door that sealed the vault. The article also said that the fixtures from the building were reserved to the county. The building was to be removed within six months of the date of sale, quite an extension from the 30 days first given in negotiations. 
Work tearing down the building commenced the week of April 3, 1913, according to Cash’s records. Cash said the demolition was supervised by William Poe, “an old-time contractor in town.”
“They wanted the old building out of the way so they could have a better view of the new courthouse and library,” said Cash, a statement reiterated in the April 1913 article. 
The county also wanted to grade the lot to landscape around the library and courthouse, which is still the library lawn today.