Vernon County Courthouse

This beautiful Romanesque Revival building occupies the center of the town square of Nevada, MO. Completed in 1908 it was the third Vernon County Courthouse. The building has served as the seat of government for the county since with few changes. It has been on the National Registry of Historic Places since 1997.

Vernon County was established in 1855 and named after three-time Missouri Senator Miles Vernon. Nevada was the town picked to be the county seat and the commissioners purchased 50 acres of land for $250 for the site of the new town. The first courts met in private houses.

The first courthouse was built between 1856 and 1857 for $900. It was a two-story building that was designed by DC Hunter. Hunter had an office above the courtroom, until he moved across the street. The second floor was used by the sheriff and the clerk and had two windows that looked over the pump in town. A county clerk office was built on the southwest corner of the square by James Bryan in 1860 for $550. Both the courthouse and the clerk's office stood on the square until 1863, when they both were destroyed when federal troops burned the town on May 26th during the Civil War. The second courthouse was built in 1868. It was built by Charles W. Goodlander at the cost of $25,000. The second courthouse was a two-story structure.

The third and present courthouse was built in 1906 to 1908 at the cost of $95,215. The building is a Romanesque Revival style, that was built with Carthage stone. The architect was G.R. Kirsch. Nearly three years after it was completed, lamps and electric lighting were installed in the building. On the second story on the south side above the entrance is a large arched window. On each corner there is a large square stone that connects to the red colored roof. There is a small tower that holds a clock.

The present courthouse has 33 rooms, two walk-in vaults, three wide hallways, seven restrooms and the attic. Some believe that the attic was designed to be the jail at one time. The ceilings in the courthouse range from 12 to 15 feet high.

The bell at the top of the courthouse arrived in August of 1907 and weighed 800 pounds. The bell was placed on the first opening just below the clock. There are no glass windows surrounding, letting sound ring out freely. The bell can be heard for about three to four miles on a clear day. The clock that is with it weighs about 2,300 boxed. The clock had to be wound up every eight days and struck every hour and half hour.

In August of 1908 lighting hit the new courthouse. The lighting hit the top of the spire. As it hit the top of the spire it shattered the tile ball that is on top, making fragments fall into the street. As the bolt of lightning hit it sent multiple forks of electricity, shattering multiple more tiles in 20 different places. In the 20 places where lighting bolts struck only titles were shattered, no gashes were torn into the roof. H.E. was standing in the west entrance of the court house with one hand on the marble column and received quite the shock. In the sheriff's office, one of the deputy sheriffs thought there had been an explosion nearby. The lighting had followed the telephone wires into the offices of the courthouse. The phones in both the courtroom and the sheriffs office were burnt out.

The building was renovated in 1973. In 1997 the Vernon County courthouse was placed on the National Registry of Historical Places. Outside the courthouse is a life-size statue of Joel Stone who served as a Congressman, Governor and Senator. which was dedicated to him in 1935. He served as the prosecuting attorney for Vernon County from 1872 to 1874.

Vernon County Courthouse. Accessed April 15th 2021. https://vernoncountymo.org/?page_id=45

Ohman, Marian M. Vernon County Courthouse. Accessed April 14th 2021. https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/ued6107.

Vernon County Historical Society Files