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Old Clay County Courthouse

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1902, Frank Packard. North side of Main St. in center of Clay
  • Old Clay County Courthouse (State Historic Preservation Office, West Virginia Division of Culture and History)

This handsome classical revival building, faced with bright yellow brick, overlooks downtown Clay from a hillside perch. Its rusticated first story, with rectangular fenestration, is separated by a stone belt course from the piano nobile, with its arched fenestration. An ornate, domed cupola, with coupled columns supporting the entablature, centers the ridge of the hipped roof. Balustrades above the cornice and around the base of the cupola have been removed.

Several years earlier, in partnership with Joseph Yost, architect Packard, of Columbus, Ohio, had designed the far larger Marion County Courthouse in Fairmont ( MA1). The Clay building, one of Packard's first designs after he established an independent practice, demonstrates his mastery of classical revival form and detail. The old building continues in use as county offices.

Writing Credits

Author: 
S. Allen Chambers Jr.
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Data

What's Nearby

Clay County Courthouse

Citation

S. Allen Chambers Jr., "Old Clay County Courthouse", [Clay, West Virginia], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/WV-01-CL1.

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