From History of Clarion County, published circa 1976, compiler unknown.

The First Courthouse -- 1841

The contract was awarded to the firm of Derby and Clover, Edward Derby of Ridgeway, PA, and Levi G. Clover, of Clarion, PA.   Derby was the superintending partner.  The contract price was $8,500, which, it appears, exceeded the lowest bid by $2,700.  The extras brought the cost up to $10,636.16. Building commenced in the Spring of 1841.  The Courthouse was ready for occupation in the Winter of 1842, but it not entirely finished till the Spring of the succeeding year.

The old courthouse was brick, two-storied, and divided by a slight offset -- from which there were two narrow recesses into two longitudinal wings.  The rear annex was slightly lower than the front part of the building; the main building was surmounted by a wooden cupola in the center of the roof.  There was no clock.  The main entrance was through a portico, in the Grecian style, reached by four low steps.  The roof of the porch was supported by two wooden, fluted pillars with plain capitals, and two pilasters, one at either end, all painted white.  The county offices were on each side of the corridor in the body of the building.  The story above contained four jury rooms.  The courtroom occupied the ground floor of the rear department.  Two doors, one in each of the recesses before mentioned, opened into the entry leading into it.  The hall above the courtroom was used for public meetings, drill, etc.

The circumstances attending the destruction of the first courthouse were very similar to those of the second burning.  About nine o'clock on the morning of March 10, 1859, smoke and flames issued from the roof, near the cupola.  They had come from a faulty flue. The citizens of the town had no means of getting water up, and in two hours the building was a ruin.  The records were all preserved in the Lycoming & York Companies amounted to $7,000.  [Note: This is how the sentence was written in the original document.]

The Presbyterian Church was used as a courtroom till the completion of the new building, and county officers occupied Arnold's Block.

The Second Courthouse -- 1863

The second courthouse was built by Daniel and Edmond English of Brookville, PA, and completed in 1863.  It was necessary that a special act of the Legislature be passed empowering the Commissioners to erect a new structure.  The contract stood at $15,720.  Extras, amounting to $1,500.00, were allowed. John R. Turner, of Carlisle, was the architect.  Commissioners were Daniel Mercer, C. Seigworth, and Benjamin Miller.  The undertaking was a losing one for the contractors.

The second courthouse was a substantial brick building with a wooden roof.  Its dimensions were sixty feet by ninety-eight feet depth.  The height of the first story was thirteen feet, of the second twenty-one feet.  Average height of the buildings (exclusive of belfry) is sixty-five feet.  It was extremely cheap, considering its size and solidity.

About one o'clock on the morning of September 12, 1882, fire that had been smouldering in the loft burst through the roof.  The water pressure was not enough to force the stream to the top, and the flames gained resistless headway.  The building was gutted in a few hours, leaving the walls standing comparatively intact.  Insurance received was $25,000.  Between the destruction of the old and the completion of the new courthouse, the Methodist Church was used for holding court and the residence part of the jail for offices.

The Present Courthouse -- 1884

There were sixteen bidders on July 3, 1883, when the contract for the third courthouse was awarded.  John Cooper's bid, $135,000, was the highest. P. H. Melvin's bid, $88,370, was the lowest.  This allowed $5,000 for materials from the former courthouse and jail.  Mr. Melvin obtained the contract.  The building was to be finished by November 16, 1884.  Work began July 16, 1883, but the building was not handed over to the commissioners until October 14, 1885.

E. M. Butz, of Allegheny, was the architect.  He delegated D. English, of Brookville, as supervising architect.  The Commissioners who granted the contract were John Keatly, Aaron Kline, and Johnson Wilson.  The present board (at the time) Samuel Bell, David Heffron, and Emmanuel Over, took possession. Henry Warner, of Allegheny, executed the fresco work.  The painting was under the supervision of H. H. Holbrook, of Clarion, and D. D. Dunkelbarger, of Brookville, PA.  The tile floors were laid by the Star Encaustic Tile Company of Pittsburgh.  The clock dial, nine feet in diameter, and bell, weight 1,313 pounds, were furnished by the Howard Clock Company from New York.

P. H. Melvin, the contracted, failed January 27, 1885, and assigned to his bondsmen, Augustin Dietz, Edward Denneny, and Edward Lyman, who thereupon became the acting contractors.  Melvin was retained as superintendent of construction.

The building is a variation of the Queen Anne order of architecture.  Its general dimensions are 78 feet, 8 inches front; 134 feet deep; elevation from the ground to the top of the tower figure is 213 feet.  The tower rests on foundation walls four and one-half feet thick, which in turn are supported by three graded courses of stone.  The tower is carried up on the three internal sides by stone columns in the corners of the vestibules, and iron cross-girders.  It is surmounted by a galvanized iron figure of justice eleven feet in length.  The interior of the clock loft is fitted with gas pipes for illumination.  The tower is 25 feet square. Its elevation above the roof is 139 feet.  That of the tapering part is fifty-six square.  The height of the highest part of the body of the structure is 90 feet, 9 inches.  The walls of the main part are 22 inches thick.  The roof is of tin and slate.

The building is ventilated on the vacuum principle.  The ventilated air is exhausted from all parts of the building by a large fan, 62 inches in diameter and 27 inches wide, placed in a room in which the exhaust pipes center.  From here it escapes up the foul air flue.  All the heating and ventilating is done by one engine.  The basement is also furnished with a gas regulator and water meter.

The tower clock's face was illuminated in 1889.  The Courthouse was wired for electric lights in 1923.

In the first story are the county offices on each side of a corridor, 16 feet wide.  This story is 14 feet, 9 inches high, has a vaulted brick ceiling, and is fireproof.  The second story is 21 feet in height and the third, or Mezzanine story, 12 feet.  Each has a lobby in front 21 feet square.  The corridor and the lobbies are paved with ornamental tile.  On the second floor are the courtrooms.  In front of them, on either side of the lobby, are two waiting-rooms for ladies.  To the rear of the courtrooms is the judges' and attorneys' room and two rooms for petit juries.  The third story contains the apartments of the county superintendent and surveyor, opening from the front vestibule.  From the rear are the grand jury room and two witness waiting rooms.

The courtroom [shown at left about 1914] is 74 feet long, 55 feet wide, and 45 feet high.  It is lighted by 12 double windows and four chandeliers of 18 lights each.

The heating and ventilating apparatuses were included in the contract.  The following shows the cost of the furnishings:

An allowance of $661.50 was made for a drain.  For neglected and defective work, the commissioners deducted $949.77.  The total cost to the county was $97,124.27.  The contractor and sub-contractor sunk $18,000; the bondsmen $3,500.  Total cost of this building (including old material) was $126,936.00.

P. H. Melvin, on February 12, 1886, brought suit against Clarion County for $40,000 damages.  His complaint sets forth that the commissioners failed to comply, on their part, with several of the contract stipulations:

• The estimates were not advanced at the time agreed;
• The work was delayed by failure to furnish him with plans promptly;
• The commissioners compelled him to purchase new brick at great loss; and,
• He was harassed and hindered in the work by the objections of the supervising architect.

Although the undertaking was an unfortunate one to the contractor and sub-contractors, the citizens of Clarion County may congratulate themselves on possessing a credible, solidly constructed courthouse, for a comparatively small expenditure.

The First Jail -- 1841

The contract for the first jail was awarded simultaneously with that for the courthouse to Jonathan Frampton, of Clarion County, at the sum of $2,834.  Difficulties arose in setting an account of extras, etc., and Frampton and Craig sued the County.  The venue was changed to Armstrong County, where judgment was rendered for $3,097.70 exclusive of cost, making the total cost $7,000.

The first jail was a plain structure of square-cut sandstone with a small yard, surrounded by a stone wall in the rear.  In 1847, the building was remodeled and a new front put in.  After the completion of the new prison, it was finally torn down in 1883 and its stones used in the foundation of the court house.  The old jail stood a few rods west of the present one.

The Present Jail -- 1873

The old jail became dilapidated and insecure, and a new building was deemed necessary.  After the proper recommendations the contract was awarded April 7, 1873, to Messrs. Samuel Wilson and W.W. Greenland at the price of $96,767, to which extras amounted to $23,527.50, making the total cost of $120,274.50.  James McCullough, Jr., of Allegheny, was the architect.  Commissioners under whom the work was done Isaac Mong, John Stewart, and Chris Brenneman.  The interior was not completed until the Spring of 1875.

The structure [shown behind courthouse in photo above, dated about 1906] is imposing in appearance and is half brick and half stone.  The front is of brick, with semi-octagonal projecting wings and basement walls of sandstones.  A square, battlemented tower arises from the front section.  It is 97 feet square at the base, and 10 feet at the top.  The outside walls of the prison proper are of ashlar sandstone, rough dressed, two and one-half feet thick.  It contains 20 cells, eight and two-thirds by fourteen feet each, ranged in two tiers on each side of the interior court, or corridor, which is fifteen and one-sixth feet wide by fifty-six feet long and the full height of the prison.  Iron balustrades extend the length of the corridor before the upper tiers of cells.  There are two bath cells.  Each cell is provided with a water faucet, etc.  The doors are of iron grating, with outside doors of oak two and one-half inches thick.  The jail is heated by steam.  In 1885, the interior of the jail was repaired and renovated and steam heating apparatus installed.

Related Articles on this Web Site

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• Erecting Public Buildings (from Caldwell's Atlas, 1877)
• County Court, Courthouse & Jail

Thanks to my precious niece, Rachel, for helping transcribe this page.