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Lewis County Courthouse

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1887, P. M. Hale, builder. Southeast side of Center Ave., between 1st and Bank sts.
  • (West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Except for its strange tower, this brick Italianate structure, which replaces a building burned in 1886, appears more like a private home than a courthouse. Polygonal bays project from the mass of the building, flanking each side of a recessed central entrance, and a bracketed cornice supports a shallow, multisectioned hipped roof. The tower rises above the central entrance; its main, shingled, stage contains Gothic-arched louvered openings in each face. Smaller octagonal towers emerge above polygonal bays on each side wall. Like the main tower, they are covered with cupolas. Along with several neighboring houses that have been commandeered to serve as county offices, the courthouse is painted a cream color with white trim. Its well-tended appearance helps to disguise the fact that it is not a particularly distinguished building. The builder, P. M. Hale, was from Weston, but the architect has not been identified.

Writing Credits

Author: 
S. Allen Chambers Jr.

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