Front:
Junty, Ky., Retired
Teachers Association has undertaken
the restoration of the county's first
courthouse.
The courthouse was built in 1823
at a cost of $100. Erected at Wades-
boro, Calloway's county seat 1822-23,
it was used until a new one was built
in 1831. When Murray became county
seat in 1843, the old courthouse was
moved there.
A faculty member from Murray State
University had heard that the first court-
house had been purchased from the
county when the new one was built,
and had been turned into a residence
after being moved to Murray. A log
room was discovered when a local bus-
inessman was razing several old dwell-
ings to make a parking lot, and it met
the exact specifications of the old court-
house: "20 feet by 20 feet square, 1½
stories, covered with clapboards, and
undressed plank floor, constructed of
hewed logs notched down close."
In 1966 members of the Jackson
Purchase Historical Society, the faculty
of MSU and other local citizens moved
the courthouse to the MSU campus.
The money ran out.
The retired teachers of Calloway County,
Ky., are involved in completing the res-
toration of the county's first courthouse.
Then the CCRTA undertook to finish
the project. They held a white elephant
sale and solicited contributions. The
money was used to roof the building,
build a chimney, terrace the lot and re-
place the doors and windows.
Furniture is being made to meet the
original specifications: "A judge's bench
3 feet high, 3 feet wide and 12 feet
long. One large bench for the jury and
one good seat for the use of the coun-
cil." The Restoration Committee is not
sure what the "good seat" should look
like.
Back:
Calloway County Courthouse
Wadesboro, Kentucky
built 1823.
Kodak
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