HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY AND THE JEFFERSON COUNTY COURTHOUSE PAMPHLET
Welcome to Brookville, PA, the Seat of Justice for Jefferson County. This pamphlet contains a brief history of our majestic Courthouse, which is at once the story of a building, but also the story of the people whose decision, opinions, and labors affected its appearance, use, and near demise. The structure itself has been hailed, reviled, almost destroyed, expanded, restored, and lovingly preserved.

On March 24, 1804, when Jefferson County was formed and named in honor of President Thomas Jefferson, virgin pine trees covered the hills which were home to panthers, bear, wolves, and deer. The County’s borders extended then to half of Forest County and portions of Elk County but people traveled to Indian to conduct legal business.

John Mitchell, Alexander McCalmont and Robert Orr, Jr., of Centre, Venango, and Armstrong Counties, respectively, were on April 8, 1829, appointed Commissioners by an Act of the State legislature to select a site for the County Seat. On July 31, 1830, they accepted the land for the new town deed by John Pickering. Proceeds from the sale of the ten lots provided fund for construction of public buildings. The name "Brook" was chosen for the area’s springs and "ville" for a country seat, or town.

Main Street was known as Market Street. The town’s limits extended west to an alley east of the present day Presbyterian Church, north to Butler Street, and east to Richards Taylor Streets. Madison Avenue was Water Street and marked the southern line. Lots laid out in the area between the Redbank and Sandy Lick Creeks were the remainder of the "South Side."

The first public building was a two story jail, built of common flagstone, completed in 1831 at a cost of $1,823.24 by contractor Daniel Elgin. This eight room edifice, with four cells and living quarters for the Sheriff, stood on the northeastern corner of public lands. Court was held in this building while the first Courthouse was erected. December 14, 1830, John Lucas of Jefferson County and Robert P. Barr of Indiana County were granted a contract for $3,000 to construct the original Courthouse which was completed in 1832. A wing of the brick building extended west along Main Street housing the Prothonotary’s and Commissioners’ offices. An attic and belfry topped the main section which was two stories high. One of the four jury rooms on the second floor was used for Church services. Another served as an armory for the volunteer Brookville Rifles. Brookville in the 1840’s was described as "a town with forty or fifty well-built shanties and ten businesses."

A larger jail was deemed necessary and a contract was awarded on May 23, 1854, to Messrs. Byrnes and Dowling for $14,200 for a two story brick and stone structure. Front rooms on the first floor were used temporarily for County row offices and also served as a Post Office for 15 years. Situated where the lawn and Veterans Area are now, it also included a Sheriff’s residence. Cells were located in the rear of the structure which was finished in November of 1856. The Sheriff’s presence was not a deterrent, however, as an inmate escaped during the first year of occupancy. In three decades, this facility was termed not suitable to the want of the County, yet it would stand for seventy-one years.

Meanwhile, the original jail was still in use as a butcher shop. As the Civil War was raging, the public lands were occupied by the first Courthouse and two jails. When peace returned to the Nation in 1865, the County’s resources were committed to another Courthouse to keep pace with the increase of legal business. The original jail would be razed to make room for the new building.

James W. Drum was the architect of the main portion of the Courthouse yet used today, including the clock and bell tower. James T. Dickey of Kittanning was granted the contract on July 28, 1866 to bring Drum’s design to fruition. His bid of $57,000 would prove insufficient to accomplish the task. Messrs. Daniel English and R. J. Nicholson agreed to complete the work for an additional $21,742. Added to that would be $688 for the bell, $725 for the clock, and the price of the furniture. Final tally for the edifice and all appointments was $86,413.

Monday evening, September 13, 1869, citizens gathered for the dedication of the second Courthouse. Picture the streets made only of soil. Guests arrived in carriages or on horseback. Touring the grand, new building, they found the Main Courthouse twelve feet longer than its present size, with jury rooms in the read and stained glass windows. The only drawback was the acoustic properties. County row offices and Superintendent of Common Schools office occupied the lower level. Sloping lawns mirrored the terraced front stairway.

The Honorable James Campbell of Clarion, President Judge of the Judicial District, delivered the dedicatory address, saying, in part:"The faculties and susceptibilities of the mind are greatly enlarged and influenced by the surroundings, and may we not anticipate that this stately building and this beautiful hall will exercise an elevating influence on the court, the bar, the officers and the people; that these doors will never be closed to the cry of the oppressed; that this forum will never be desecrated by the sacrifice of justice, but that with an even hand wrongs may be redressed, rights vindicated, crime suppressed, or sternly punished. To this end we solemnly set apart and dedicate this Temple of Justice."

On the cover of this pamphlet is a likeness of the Courthouse from the 1878 Caldwell Atlas of Jefferson County. A 1915 photograph shows the side entrance, which afforded access where the middle window now is on the Pickering Street side, and three chimneys on the east side of the roof.

By the time the County and Nation had survived the Spanish American War and World War I, the "Temple of Justice" required expansion and other attention. Architect Emmett E. Bailey of Oil City was engaged to design an addition and renovation of the existing structure. His time-worn blue prints for Job #567 are dated December 30, 1922.

A closer perusal of historical documents would be required to follow the trail of turmoil which ensued for nearly five years, but, suffice to say that hard rains in 1926 seemed to draw controversy about the intended construction project to a head. A deluge threatened County records and ruined whatever type of heating system was in use. Small stoves were installed in each room as a substitute. Scathing comments written to local newspapers by one citizen referred to the toilets as "barbarous" and described drinking water for the Court as being served from an "old wooden keg, a scummy glass pitcher and microby glass".

Commissioners Sam Hunter and John Daughtery voted to incur a debt of $300,000 for the work detailed by Bailey. Commissioner Perry Richards of Brookville was apposed to the motion as were more than 3,000 residents who later mounted a campaign to have the Courthouse torn down! The protestors wanted to build a new Courthouse.

On February 23, 1927, amidst the continuing strife, General Contractor Ray Richards of Brookville was accorded a covenant for $246,590.67. Plumbing would be installed by William Clark Company of New Castle, $8,800; heating system by F.J. Egan of Ridgeway, $11,250; and electrical systems by W.E. Lightcap of Indiana, $3,868; total - $270,508.67.

Richards removed the iron and stone fence at the edge of the sidewalks and reduced the lawn to street level as the protest reached the Courts. On March 10, 1927, Judge William T. Darr rendered his decision approving the contracts. Petitioners posted a $150,000 bond and sought a temporary injunction. Judge W.M. Parker of Venango County denied the request March 11, 1927.

In May, 1927, during the relocation of the Courthouse offices for the duration of the project, Levi Plyler, a janitor, was killed in a fall at the temporary site known as the Park Building.

Bailey pronounced the second jail unsafe on May 12, 1927. Early on May 16, prisoner Clark Craft proved Bailey correct by making his escape through a hole above the balcony tier of cells. The barking of his police dog woke Sheriff C. F. Evans in time to stop a second inmate from following. Craft was the seventh prisoner to flee the facility in 16 months, all through the same hole. It was deemed useless to spend money on repairs to the "old" jail since it was to soon be replaced! All escapees were recaptured.

Richards began excavation for the 32’ x 64’ addition to the Courthouse, forming the "L" shape, in March of 1927. Spring rains turned the hole into a pool. A comment to those who sought destruction of the 1866 Courthouse was made by workmen in 1927, who said "the lads who built the original building knew something about how to build". Brick, mortar and lath removed in the process were used to fill in the race from the Mabon Mill in the Memorial Park area.

Bailey revised some of his drawings for Contract #69152 on August 1, 1927. From these renderings much can be learned about the new edifice as well as the alterations to the previous one. Development of the front basement entry, complete with tastefully scrolled gates, eliminated the Pickering Street access. The twin, curved staircases, fashioned of Mount Airy granite, surmounted by filigreed lamps, appear today as built. Hallways on all floors are made from quarry tile, save for the marble in the first floor hall and lobbies.

Outfitting in the basement were a women’s lounge and restroom, Jury Commissioners room, two rooms for the Farm Bureau, boiler room, offices for the Sealer of Weights and Measures, Engineer and Surveyor, the Prothonotary’s, Commissioners’ and Register and Recorder’s vaults, and men’s restroom. Entering the jail, the four cells on the Women’s Corridor were first encountered; to the rear were the four cells on the Men’s Corridor.

The new exterior entry on the addition provided public and office space for the Sheriff. Rooms used today were designed for the Register and Recorder. Other offices were occupied by the County Superintendent of Schools, Commissioners and, with built in vault, Treasurer. The Prothonotary maintains the same area.

Within the 1866 exterior walls, the marble lobbies, were installed as were the front and rear staircases, fitted with solid brass railings bolted to steel beams prior to placement of the marble treads and risers.

From the second floor lobby, one could ascend to the third floor balcony or enter the Main Courtroom where shuttered registers below each window provided ventilation along with a 30" exhaust fan with its switch behind the Judge’s Chair. The Jury Box sat opposite from its current location.

Appointments in the Judge’s Chambers included a gas fireplace, private restroom (one of the nineteen in the building not including the cells), and a Secretary’s office. The Law Library, Small Court Room, Women’s Jury Room, and Court Stenographer and District Attorney offices completed the second floor.

A twenty-four seat Grand Jury Room, three Jury Rooms and one Consultation Room, unassigned space and a large vault comprised the third floor.

Accompaniments throughout the facility were ordered in mahogany and maroon. File, shelving, document, deed, and record storage cabinets are, for the most part, still used as intended.

As World War II and other conflicts brought changes to the Nation, so decisions through the years would bring change to the Courthouse in use of space, duties of officials, décor and amenities. A new County Jail has meant the basement cells are now storage space. One window was removed from each floor in the corner of the "L" to make space for installation of an elevator. Constructions at different periods resulted in mismatched colors of brick; painting is a constant maintenance effort.

If the walls of the Courthouse could speak, they might name the many craftsmen who contributed their talents to the stability and grandeur seen today. Von Berger, of Big Run, and his workmen are the latest in that lengthy list. Complimenting the quality of workmanship and materials used in generations past, Berger stated that "to build the Courthouse as it is today would cost 20 Million." Through his skillful use of architectural finishes fashioned to provide depth and movement, Bailey’s plan for Caen Stone between the wooden pilasters in the Main Courtroom has come to life in driftstone. Using an eight step process, fifteen thousand layers of gold leaf was applied to the Courtroom ceiling. Many of the 1927 electrical fixtures have been restored with gold leaf and their solid brass treated with a finish which will capture its soft glow for years to come. Cleaning the marble and application of a variety of wall treatments have been part of the late 20th Century restoration and preservation. In appreciation for the respect the community has for the Courthouse, Berger’s craftsmen will cap the bell tower with gold leaf.

In 1866, Judge Campbell called the Courthouse ""at once an honor and an ornament to the town and the County; "It belongs to every man, woman and child in the County." Today, people can be found studying a passage in a law tome, perusing handwritten deed books in search of their ancestry, or paying their share of the taxes. A shy couple walks hand in hand to apply for a marriage license while different agencies set up information tables in the lobbies. Yet, most importantly, through the tall, clear windows of the Courtroom, truth shines in even as the sun might hide from view. For this was, is, and will remain Jefferson County’s "Temple of Justice".