Courthouses have come and gone
Even in 1800 and with only about 4,000 residents, the new County of Butler needed a judiciary building where ne'er-do-wells could be tried and convicted or the innocent could plead their cases.
Plus, the Legislature required that a place used for holding court be established within four miles of the center of the new Western Pennsylvania counties established in 1800, Butler County being among them.
“The first court session in Butler County was held on the south side of the Diamond in 1803 inside a rough log cabin,” according to a publication called “The Butler County Courthouse and Butler County, Pennsylvania, 1800—1990.”
Records indicate that the Diamond is about 4.25 miles from the county's geographical center, and although an attempt was made in 1852 to move the courthouse closer to the county's center, there is no indication that anyone questioned the earliest courthouse's location.
Three downtown cabins were rented for court proceedings until 1809, when the first official courthouse was erected in the location of the current version at Main and Diamond streets.It is unclear whether the building was brick or stone, as recollections vary, but the structure — which appeared to be little more than a large, two-story house with single-story wings on either end — cost $5,000 to build.“Capped with a cupola (or bell tower), it was very plain and frequently needed repairing,” according to the publication.The new courthouse, stately for its times, was used from 1809 to 1853.In addition to judiciary activities, the building was used for town meetings, political debates, church services and school classes.“Typical court expenses included candles, snuffers, window blinds and goose quills,” the publication states.Apparently the building was a popular meeting place for local fans of the national pastime, who vexed the courthouse caretakers.“We would inform the ballplayers, who are such an annoyance about the courthouse and breaking the windows, that there is a borough ordinance against ball-playing around that building, and the fine is three dollars on every such offender,” according to an editorial in the former Democratic Herald newspaper.With the citizenry of the county having grown to 30,000 residents by 1848, a buzz began among residents regarding the possibility of building a new courthouse.Some residents felt the existing courthouse, though “plain, yet comfortable” was good enough, and there was no need to “build a Grecian temple.”“Four years later, however, a visit to neighboring county seats persuaded the County Commissioners to construct a $40,000 courthouse,” the publication said. “Despite taxpayers' complaints, the old courthouse was torn down in 1853. Court sessions were temporarily held in the old Presbyterian Church on Jefferson Street.”
The new and much more impressive brick courthouse was complete by the fall of 1855. The new courthouse was the pride of Butler County and its crowning jewel, and was “regarded as one of the largest and loveliest courthouses in Western Pennsylvania.”Six huge sandstone columns that guarded the building's east-facing entrance were fashioned into cylinders at a quarry south of Butler, then iron bars were driven into each end to transport them to the Diamond.“The bars were then hitched to 12 oxen,” the publication states. “To prevent the stone cylinders from rolling over the animals on downhill slopes, trees were tied to the bars.”Once the feat of transport engineering was complete and the columns safely arrived at the courthouse, stone masons “chiseled out fluted columns and topped them with fine capitals.”A glitch in raising one of the columns occurred when a rope or pulley gave way.“A small boy watching below was miraculously jerked from under the falling stone,” said a report at the time. “Because the accident marred the capital, it was placed near the courthouse entrance and used as the sheriff's stand for the sale of many homesteads belonging to debtors.”The Goddess of Justice, painted and wielding a sword and scales, was raised to her place of honor above the columns between two wooden blocks that read “law” and “justice,” respectively.A disgruntled resident who had lost a case inside the building was heard to say of the goddess: “It's devilish well they put that picture on the outside, for there's none of her ever gets to the inside.”
A bell weighing almost a ton was installed in a cupola on the roof, and its tones could be heard 10 miles away.In addition, a cedar statue of Gen. Richard Butler, the town's namesake, was placed at the very top of the courthouse, where he held a spyglass with a robe slung over his shoulder.Before the statue arrived, a large platform rested on the roof awaiting placement of Gen. Butler's likeness.The Butler Eagle reported in 1884 that “Frank Bell, a son of the contractor, climbed up the outside ladders to the top, stood upon the platform, which was about 4 feet square, and greeted the citizens with a song and dance 180 feet above the Earth — the highest dancing ever done in the town, to the recollection of the oldest inhabitant.”
Once complete, the brand-new courthouse also was the site of concerts, plays, talent shows and debates, as well as the sentencing of 150 people to the penitentiary and one man sentenced to death.Civil War draftees met at the courthouse to be inducted into the Union Army, and when the North defeated the South at Fort Donaldson, “Butler boys rang the courthouse bell continually for an entire day.”A raucous series of events were held at the courthouse for the country's Centennial Celebration in 1876, with shouting and bell-ringing beginning at midnight and hundreds of bonfires burning in Butler's streets until dawn.Flags and bunting festooned the downtown area, and a parade marched down Main Street in the morning.Inside the courthouse, the Declaration of Independence was read aloud, and the 76-year-old history of Butler County was recounted.The courthouse was renovated many times as it aged, and upgrades were made including replacing the cupola with a clock tower, installing wooden ventilators to prevent airlessness in the courtrooms, and lowering Gen. Butler's statue to stand just above the Goddess of Justice.
At 6 a.m. on a December morning in 1883, the courthouse janitor kindled a small fire in the courtroom for heat.At almost 7 a.m., smoke was seen rising from the roof ventilator. An hour later, the janitor saw flames “bursting onto the courtroom floor from a register at the foot of a ventilator duct.”From his vantage point atop a ladder, the janitor doused more flames above him in the ventilator above the stove pipe and thought the situation to be over.“Outside the courthouse, however, volumes of smoke poured from the large roof ventilator,” the publication said.Firefighters were summoned, but white hot flames were discovered between the original roof and the lowered version.Efforts soon changed from saving the building to saving court records.The Goddess of Justice fell from her lofty perch with only her hands consumed by flames.The massive bell fell through the burning courthouse's floors, sending burning timbers flying in every direction as it passed through each.“The statue of General Butler ... could be seen ... through openings in the clouds of smoke,” reported one newspaper. “Finally, it tottered, reeled backward and fell.”By noon, only the stone columns, brick walls and vaults containing unharmed documents remained.The exact cause of the fire was undetermined, as it should not have escaped the stove pipe, but court reassembled at the Methodist Episcopal Church that afternoon.Children pocketed shards of the great bell to make rings for themselves.The county commissioners rented the English Lutheran Parsonage and Church on First Street, which was formerly the Witherspoon Institute, a Presbyterian school.“A night watchman guarded against fire and stopped several burglary attempts,” the publication.A storm in April 1884 pushed over the west wall of the courthouse, foiling plans to salvage the building after the fire.
Construction began in 1885 on the current iteration of the courthouse.The current courthouse is 38 feet wider and 38 feet longer than the 1855 version, and thick stone that was easier to maintain and stronger than brick was placed on the building's exterior.A tall tower was erected to house the town clock and bell, and stones and brick were carefully placed to form a circular opening for each of the four clock faces.The clock's timepiece was built in Boston and a 2,500-pound bell was hung in the tower.Due to fire fears, many walk-in vaults were installed in the courthouse.“The interior also featured steam heating and such 'modern conveniences' as closets and washstands,” according to the publication.In January, 1887, the new courthouse was opened to the public.An expansion project in 1907 added a third floor, extended the north and south exterior walls, enlarged the basement, replaced the roof, removed the dry wooden timbers and replaced them with steel beams, and rearranged the second floor to house two courtrooms.
