A Tale of Two County Courthouses

I am writing this from the warm, almost hot, April weather in Palm Desert, California… a place Sharon and I try to get to once every year.  There are three different routes we use when driving: straight down I-5 through Los Angeles and then to Palm Desert,  I-5 to Bakersfield and over the Tehachapi’s or through Lassen Park and Reno and down US-395, a longer route but by far the more scenic and the one we chose on this trip.

Near the base of Mount Whitney, on Highway 395, in the town of Independence, California, is a magnificent building which has caught my attention every time we’ve driven this route.  Built in the 1920’s, at more than 28,000 square feet, it stands as an impressive-looking structure befitting its use as the county courthouse. The Inyo County Superior Court website reads, “The region’s only example of monumental Neoclassical Revival public architecture, the present courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 in recognition of its ‘integrity of feeling and association.’”

Now, I’m not sure what “integrity of feeling and association” really means since such a description can be used for virtually any purpose.  But when reading it, I asked myself, what has that got to do with being historic?  The folks who wrote that should see a truly historic courthouse… the one right here in Jacksonville we all know.  Built in the 1880s, it stands as a monument to superb engineering and construction with a craftsmanship seldom seen in modern buildings.

The Inyo County Courthouse is the fourth building on the same site.  The first, a brick structure, was leveled in an earthquake.  The second, a wooden structure, was burned to the ground in a devastating city fire.  The third was outgrown.

Our courthouse has had its own checkered history.  In 1932, the citizens voted to move the County Courthouse to Medford, thus ending almost half a century of county government located in Jacksonville.  Then, according to the National Park Service, “in the 1930s, the building was used as the office for a local Boy Scout Troop and for meetings and other public functions, such as dances. During WW II, the Courthouse was used for Civilian Air Defense meetings.  In 1946, the Jacksonville Courthouse became the Jacksonville Museum and home of the Southern Oregon Historical Society.”  The courthouse was perilously close to being demolished when SOHS saved it.

Now, more than eighty years since the county vacated the courthouse, once again its fate remains to be determined.  I say, why not return the building back to the original purpose for which it was designed.  Somehow it seems fitting that we go full circle by using it for our own city government.  We are in need of more space.  By using the first floor for city operations and the second floor as an “events center,” we would be taking advantage of the fact that we’d be using a building we never could have hoped to buy.  With its history, and with its prominence in the city landscape, it is the perfect location for our City Hall.  What a legacy for grateful and proud future generations! What better way to assure this magnificent building’s future!  Once again, the courthouse would come to life like the phoenix rising from the ashes.  Now that is something we could all celebrate.