Platte County Courthouse, Wheatland Wyoming

Courthouse decorated for Memorial Day, 2014.

This is the Platte County Courthouse located in Platte County's seat, Wheatland Wyoming. The courthouse, in addition to housing the county court for Platte County, also houses one of the four courtrooms of Wyoming's 8th Judicial District, with the others being located in Douglas, Lusk and Torrington. The courthouse was built in 1917, and somewhat uniquely it has a monument dedicated to farmers called "The Irrigator". The Statute of Liberty is a monument for Platte County World War Two servicemen.

I've photographed this courthouse and its features at least three times. The first time was on a dreary July day in 2011.  I did it again in May 2014.  These most recent photographs are from November 2018.

A difference over this period of time is that a plaque commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Platte County, which was in 1911, was put in. Additionally, a nice sidewalk clock was added on the walkway to the entrance of the courthouse.

Lawrence County Courthouse. Speerfish South Dakota.

Probably the most remarkable thing about this photograph of the Lawrence County Courthouse in Speerfish, South Dakota is that (other than it being poorly aligned) is that there are no motorcycles in the photograph.  It took me four tries to achieve that.

Which is part of the hazards associated with taking a photograph in the Sturgis area during motorcycle rally week.

I don't know the vintage of this well preserved classic courthouse, but it's clearly an older one and very nice in appearance.  The court houses South Dakota's Fourth Judicial District and serves as the county seat for Lawrence County as well.

Harris County Texas Courthouses

These photographs depict, from a distance, the old and new Harris County Texas courthouses.  The old one, a classically styled courthouse, was built in 1910.  The new one much more recently, having been started in 2003.

The new courthouse is a seventeen story structure.  Locals in the law seem quite proud of it, but I don't know what I think.  It retains some classic elements but it's sort of big and overgrown.

Jefferson County Courthouse, Port Arthur Texas.

This is the courthouse for Jefferson County, Texas, in Port Arthur.

This courthouse is one of the many public works projects courthouses Built during the Great Depression.  As the sign for the courthouse notes, it was built in 1935 and 1936, at time during which the fortunes of Port Arthur frankly look t have been better than they currently are.

Does this courthouse belong on this blog?  That's a question I'll soon be addressing but it is debatable.  This Courthouse is technically west of the Mississippi, but culturally, it's in the Deep South.  I've posted it, but frankly, this is about as far east and south, in more ways than one, that a person can get and still claim, if they can, that this is a "Western" courthouse.

Frank E. Moss Federal Courthouse and United States Courthouse for the District of Utah. Salt Lake City, Utah.

Built in 1931, the last year of the Hoover Administration, this classic courthouse is nestled in downtown Salt Lake City.   The current name is much more recent, coming from a long serving Utah Senator who retired in 1977.

Just behind this classic revival style courthouse is a large modern office building which is the current United States Courthouse for the District of Utah, which has the local nickname of the "Borg Cube" due to its modern architecture, and in obvious reference to the characters from Star Trek.  That also forms a fairly effective commentary on what the public thinks of modern style courthouses, so I don't need to add to that, and could hardly do so more effectively.

Detail from the Frank E. Moss Courthouse

While most of the court's functions have moved to the new courthouse, the old one continues to house the bankruptcy court.

City and County Building, Cheyenne Wyoming

This is the old City and County Building in Cheyenne Wyoming which, at one time, housed all of the offices of the City of Cheyenne and Laramie County, including the courts.

This building has been partially replaced by the Laramie County Government Complex, which physically adjoins it.

This Federal style Classical Revival building was built completed in 1919.  A better view of the building would be from its front, rather than the sides as depicted, which would show its classic columns, but under the constraints of time when this photograph was taken, that couldn't be done.

Toronto Ontario Old Town Hall and York County Courthouse, Toronto Ontario

This is the Toronto Old City Hall and York County Courthouse, a massive structure in downtown Toronto that was built to hold a court, and which still does even though many of its other original functions are no longer carried on in this building.  I'm uncertain of the current jurisdiction of the court, although there is a listing for it under Ontario Court of Justice on a non governmental website.

This very large structure took a decade to build, having been started in 1889, and completed in 1899.

As with a similar entry on the Churches of the West blog, a person can take exception to my having listed this courthouse here, as its not really in the West.  Nonetheless, at the time in which it was built, 1899, Toronto retained a bit of a western feel, as much of Canada did at that time.

United States Post Office and Courthouse, Oklahoma City.

This is the 1912 vintage Federal courthouse and post office in Oklahoma City.  This classic courthouse is no longer used for civil or criminal trials, having been replaced by a new courthouse nearby, but it is still used for bankruptcy proceedings.  I've been told that the most famous trial to have been held here was the criminal trial of Machine Gun Kelly.

The courthouse was a courthouse of the Western District of Oklahoma, and for a time was used by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals prior to Oklahoma being reassigned to the 10th Circuit.

Pennington County Courthouse, Rapid City, South Dakota

This is the Pennington County Courthouse in Rapid City, South Dakota.  The original Greek Revival style courthouse was built in 1922, with the addition being added in 1990.

Scottsbluff County Courthouse, Gering Nebraska

This is the Scottsbluff County Courthouse in Gering Nebraska.  Oddly, this courthouse, built in 1921, is not in Scottsbluff but in neighboring Gering.  This courthouse was built in the classical revival style and is an example of County Citadel architecture.

Morrill County Nebraska Courthouse, Bridgeport Nebraska

This is the Morrill County Courthouse in Bridgeport Nebraska.  Nebraska has a fair number of these classically styled county courthouses which remain in current use.  This one was built in 1909.

Kimball County Nebraska Courthouse, Kimball Nebraska

This is the Kimball County Courthouse in Kimball Nebraska.  This fine looking courthouse was opened in 1928 and was constructed of Carthage stone, with floors of Ozark gray marble and fixtures made of solid walnut.  MKTH Photo.

Tulsa Municipal Bulding, Tulsa Oklahoma

This is the Tulsa, Oklahoma Municipal Building which housed Tulsa's government between 1917 and 1960.  While I'm not certain that it housed a courthouse, it has that appearance, and I strongly suspect that the city's municipal courthouse was located here.  This building no longer houses Tulsa's city offices.

Wyoming Supreme Court

This is the courthouse of the Wyoming Supreme Court in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Courthouse is located directly across from the State Capitol building, although it faces the Hathaway building.

This classically styled courthouse has been in use for quite some time, but I neglected to get the date of its construction at the time these photos were taken. The building is generally from the 1930s, and it bears a bit of a resemblance to the former Natrona County Courthouse in Casper Wyoming, which was built of similar materials, and a similar style, during the 1930s. Like that courthouse, this one also features reliefs in the building, although they are less prominent than those in the Natrona County Courthouse. The Wyoming Supreme Court building recently underwent renovations.

This courthouse not only contains the courtroom where oral arguments are heard, but it also contains the court offices and the State Law Library. It sits on a city block in downtown Cheyenne, and is the only structure on the block. Next to the Capitol building, it is the single most impressive state building in Cheyenne.

The Wyoming Supreme Court is the chief court of the Wyoming court system. There is no intermediate court of appeal from District Courts. District Courts, however, do serve as appellate courts for the Circuit Court. Appeals in Wyoming are by right for all matters in the District and Circuit Courts.

Sheridan County Wyoming Courthouse, Sheridan Wyoming

This is the Sheridan County Courthouse which is located in the county seat, Sheridan Wyoming. While not obvious from these photographs, the courthouse has a new, and old, section, with the old section being this impressive structure built in 1905. Both sections are visible in these photographs, with the new modern styled office building on the right hand side of the photograph. The old section is one of the oldest standing courthouses in use in Wyoming, and perhaps might be the oldest existing courthouse.

This courthouse (old and new sections combined) houses the Sheridan County Circuit Court and the 4th Judicial District, as well as the county's offices.

Sheridan County Drug Court, Sheridan Wyoming

This is the classically styled building that presently houses the Sheridan County, Wyoming, Drug Court. It was originally the Sheridan County Jail, and is on the same block as the Sheridan County Courthouse,and would appear to have been built fairly close in time to the old section of the courthouse. The Sheridan County Courthouse's dome appears in the background of the first photograph.