FALLS CITY – Pam Scott, the great-great granddaughter of Richardson County’s first district judge, agrees with County Clerk Mary Eickhoff’s description of the courthouse where they work as a splendid architectural masterpiece. It’s a building of the people, she adds.

Scott: “I started working here when the building was 66 years old and you didn’t think about it then. But today it’s 100 years old and it’s still beautiful. The woodwork is gorgeous, the marble, the floors .. yes. I’m proud of this building and the more I research it, the prouder I become.”

 

The county’s first courthouse was a wood-framed, two-story building built in 1863, while the First Nebraska Infantry Regiment fought in the Civil War and the Homestead Act opened Nebraska for settlement.

The second courthouse, where Judge Archibald Jerad Weaver presided, was built a decade later and burned in 1919.

The third courthouse was a temporary structure to keep county business going after the fire and the fourth was approved in 1919 when voters agreed to raise $238,000 through taxes.

 

 

The courthouse was accepted by Judge Weaver’s son, Paul Bennett Weaver, who was chairman of the county board in 1925.

Scott, his great-grandaughter, said “the architect stated that the courthouse lacked nothing.”

He described the conveniences to include the custodian’s ability to switch off lights from his apartment, invisible flood lights, conduits for inner-office telephones and hot and cold water in each of the restrooms.

 

Scott: “The architect was quoted to say ‘your building here will stand 100 years or more and be a service here for that long.’ I truly look forward to it lasting another 100 years.”

The courtroom was scene of a PBS movie about Standing Bear, the Boy Scouts provided one of 200 Statue of Liberty replicas of which 100 remain and the Marshall K. Maddox Richardson County Military Museum was established there in 2008.

Richardson County American Legion Commander Keri Wilhelm followed the Falls City American Legion’s footsteps from 100 years ago to rededicate the courthouse with an eye on the military museum.

Wilhelm: “I pass through the halls of the Richardson County courthouse and it’s beautiful to me. It speaks to the people who have given their lives. We have to see that history on a daily basis so we can help prevent re-living a lot of that history. For people to see their relatives, grandparents, their brothers and sisters, faces and memorabilia on the walls is extremely important.”

Students from Humboldt, Table Rock, Steinaur and Falls City High School provided music and the county served hotdogs.

Kyle Daake gave a history of the Statue of Liberty replica on the courthouse lawn, which his Boy Scout Troop help restore. The Boy Scouts commemorated their 14th anniversary in 1950 by presenting 200 of the statues across the United States. He estimates that 100 remain, including 12 in Nebraska.