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Look Back: Old County Courthouse, 1878
Date: 4/15/2011 Album ID: 1226632
Photos by St.Louis Post-Dispatch photographers and the Missouri History Museum
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On April 19, 1878, farmer Ralph Clayton shoved a spade into the earth in unincorporated St. Louis County, and the construction of the St. Louis County Courthouse began. Clayton, a 90-year-old farmer, had donated 100 acres for the $38,000 facility.
A drawing of the St. Louis County Courthouse in present-day Clayton as it appeared shortly after construction in 1878. The county had to build its own courthouse after the contentious Great Divorce that separated the city from the county in March 1877. The building now known as the Old Courthouse downtown had been the county courthouse, but became city property through the separation. County officials chose a site on 100 acres donated by Ralph Clayton, a farmer who owned 700 acres in the heart of the city that now bears his name. The county broke ground on April 19, 1878, with Clayton himself taking honors with the shovel. The courthouse cost $38,000 to build and opened in December 1878 on a square of land at present-day North Central Avenue and Forsyth Boulevard. The building was in the middle of the square, just like a proper country courthouse. (Missouri History Museum)
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Ralph Clayton, the Virginia-born farmer who donated land for the seat of St. Louis County after the city's separation. Clayton moved here in the 1830s and had a 700-acre farm in the heart of the area that later became the city bearing his name. When the county needed a place for a new courthouse, Ralph Clayton offered to donated 100 acres only two miles west of the new city limit. Martin Hanley, a neighbor, kicked in another four acres. The site was farm country. Newspapers had to describe the location vaguely as west of Hanley Road, north of Clayton Road and south of Olive Road. Clayton offered a prayer and dug the first spade of dirt on April 19, 1878, at the groundbreaking for the new courthouse. Clayton died on July 23, 1883, at age 95. The city of Clayton incorporated in 1913. (Clayton History Society)
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A view of the farmland surrounding the courthouse and the few houses around it circa 1900. The cupola of the courthouse is visible through the trees in the left background. (Missouri History Museum)
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The south side of the St. Louis County Courthouse, seen from Carondelet Street in March 1925. The annex to the left (west) included the jail. (Post-Dispatch)
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An aerial view of the city of Clayton in July 1932, showing development just east of the courthouse. The building in the center foreground on Bemiston Avenue is the Clayton City Hall. Notice the lack of trees in the new subdivisions in the background. Those streets now have tall shade trees. (Post-Dispatch)
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The 1878 courthouse had two courtrooms and 17 other rooms, and soon was too small for the county's growing population. The county had only about 30,000 residents in 1878. It had grown to almost 274,000 by January 1939, when Clayton building commissioner Alden B. Park posted this sign warning that part of the courthouse was unsafe. From 1925 to 1945, county voters defeated several proposals to build a new one. In 1945, they approved $1.6 million for a new courthouse, to be built in front of the original on Forsyth Boulevard. (Post-Dispatch)
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An inside look at the county jail on Dec. 1, 1945. (Post-Dispatch)
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St. Louis County Sheriff Arthur C. Mosley (right) inspects a hole that two jail inmates dug through a brick wall nine inches thick to escape early on Jan. 21, 1948, only hours before a ceremony planned for work on the new courthouse. With him is jailer Richard James. They said the escapees used a broken mop handle to pry out bricks. (Post-Dispatch)
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A crane operator on Jan. 15, 1948, knocks away part of the north wing of the 1878 courthouse, which is being removed to make room for the new courthouse. The site for the new one was between Forsyth Boulevard and remainder of the original courthouse, which wasn't demolished until 1971. The distinctive cupola already had been removed. (Post-Dispatch)
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A copper box is removed from the cornerstone of the 1878 courthouse during a ceremony on Jan. 21, 1948. The box had been put there since May 9, 1878, during construction of the original. Newspaper accounts of the earlier ceremony reported that the contents of the box included a Bible, a copy of Ralph Clayton's deed donating the land, documents from the Masons and the Grange, and a dollar bill bearing the name of James C. Edwards, then a county administrative judge. Holding the box is County Clerk Lee Seivers. Others are, from left, administrative Judge Arthur W. Schmid; William Seibert of Creve Coeur, a retired farmer who witnesses the cornerstone ceremony in 1878 at age eight; Mary Clayton, a granddaughter of Ralph Clayton; and presiding administrative judge Luman F. Matthews. Until 1950, the county was governed by a County Court, whose three elected members were administrative, not judicial. Many rural counties in Missouri still use that form of government, although its members are called commissioners. (Post Dispatch)
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The contents of the copper box from 1878 were ruined by water. The photo shows coins, fragments of documents and old newspapers. (Post-Dispatch)
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Work underway in April 1948 on the foundation of the new courthouse. In the background are shops along North Central Avenue. Just to the right, out of view, is the original courthouse, without its north wing. (Post-Dispatch)
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Progress in building a new $1.6 million courthouse as of December 1948, as seen from Forsyth Boulevard and Meramec Avenue. The arrow points to a penthouse that was designed for use by court juries. The building was completed in 1950. It now is the County Police headquarters. (Post-Dispatch)
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The old jail, the western annex of the original courthouse, being readied for demolition in January 1955. In the left background is the new 1950 courthouse. (Buel White/Post-Dispatch)
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Gerry Jordan, a deputy clerk for the St. Louis County Probate Court, dodges leaks on the second floor of the 1878 courthouse in March 1960. The cans on the floor catch dripping water. (Floyd Bowser/Post-Dispatch)
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The former site of the old jail serves as a parking lot for county employees. In the background is the remainder of the 1878 courthouse, with a 1912-vintage addition on the right. (Edward Burkhardt/Post-Dispatch)
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Two enclosed walkways covered in tar paper connect the old courthouse with the 1950 building in November 1967, shortly before voters adopted a $20.5 million bond issue to build a new government building and courthouse. (Post-Dispatch)
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Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark (center) chats with Gov. Warren E. Hearnes (left) and St. Louis County Supervisor Lawrence K. Roos on a cold Nov. 23, 1971, shortly before they dedicated the new county courts building (not shown). Behind them is the last section of the 1878 courthouse under demolition, the 1950 courthouse (far left) and the tower of the new County Government Building, which had opened in January 1971. It cost $22 million to build the new government building, six-story courthouse and a parking garage. Clark, of Texas, was attorney general for President Harry Truman and served on the Supreme Court from 1949 to 1967. (Lester Linck/Post-Dispatch)
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The new county courthouse, as seen from the fountain in front of the former 7 Up Building on Meramec Avenue. (Michael J. Baldridge/Post-Dispatch)
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