Old Washington County Courthouse

The Old Washington County Courthouse was opened in 1914 and served as the central artery of government in Washington County for 59 years. During Oklahoma’s process of becoming a state in 1906 and 1907, Bartlesville was selected as the county seat and officials were elected to serve the citizens of Washington County. Following several years of county offices being spread around town, a bond issue was passed, and construction began on the courthouse in 1913. The courthouse sits on the National Register of Historic Places and is a significant piece of regional history, both for its governmental importance and for its representation of the Second Renaissance Revival architectural style.

The Oklahoma Constitutional Convention began on November 20, 1906. A month later, the designation of counties was made and Washington County, was carved out of the lands of Cherokee Nation, who had been forcefully relocated to Indian Territory in 1838. Bartlesville boomed following its founding in 1897. The rapid growth it experienced was primarily due to the discovery of oil along the banks of the Caney River and the arrival of thousands of prospectors and field hands. Because of its size, Bartlesville was selected as the county seat, and on September 20, 1907, elections were held to see who would serve in the county offices following statehood on November 16, 1907. These first officials had no dedicated facility to fulfill their government duties, though many worked out of a building at 321 South Johnstone Avenue, on the second floor above the Manhattan Café.

In 1909, officials from the county decided an official building was needed to house the government. The Washington County Commissioners petitioned the Bartlesville City Council, asking them to close a section of Third Street between Shawnee and Delaware for the building of a new courthouse. The council agreed to the idea, but it took three attempts to pass a bond issue of $115,000 among the county’s residents. It was not until four years later in 1913 that construction began on the new center of county government.

Architect P.H. Weathers of Guthrie, Oklahoma led the project with Inland Construction Company of Chandler, Oklahoma acting as the main contractors. The need to go far outside the city limits for a suitable architect and construction company pointed to Bartlesville’s relatively young age and lack of infrastructure for anything not pertaining to drilling oil. The building took a year to build, and the new Washington County Courthouse was officially dedicated on May 11, 1914.

The modern facility was constructed of red brick, stone, and reinforced concrete. The courthouse features two grand staircases in its front, unique features in the wider landscape of Bartlesville’s architecture that hint at its Second Renaissance Revival style. The building’s interior featured office space to house the entire county government and oval courtrooms, which are mimicked by curved wall surfaces on the building’s east end. The county jail was also placed on the courthouse’s third floor, signified by its barred windows.

The building was the seat of county government for 59 years until 1973 when the offices were moved to the Federal Building, an old post office at the corner of Fifth Street and Johnstone Avenue. Following the move, the building housed the National Guard, and in 1986, the space was renovated to accommodate contemporary office space and a restaurant. In recognition of its architectural and government significance, the old courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. Today, it continues to serve as a hub of local business and anchors downtown Bartlesville’s east side.

May, Jon D. Bartlesville, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Accessed May 2nd 2022. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=BA026.

"Old Washington County Courthouse" National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service). January 26, 1981.