Shown is the stone Courthouse erected elected Governor of Kentucky, the second photo is the remains of the Courthouse that was destroyed by fire in 1910.
From the Defender 967 Archives by Judy Ann Fields
From the very beginning of our country, rules and regulations were established, laws enforced and courts of justice were organized. Adams County has four county seats and five courthouses.
Courts of justice were held at Manchester in 1797 and Adamsville in 1798. In 1802 a small village between Manchester and Rome, known as Washington, became the county seat. There, a courthouse was built of large hewn logs with a jail in the lower story.
As the settlements extended into the interior of the county, a new seat of justice was needed. After searching for a suitable site near the center of the county, 150 acres of land were selected and bought from Robert McClanahan for not more than $8 per acre.
After purchasing the land, lots and streets were laid off and certain lots were reserved for the town square.
This village was named West Union. On March 27, 1804 the first term of court convened at West Union in a log house that McClanahan had built. This was the only building on the town site when purchased. This building served its purpose for transacting business and caring for the court records until the completion of a courthouse in 1805.
William Foster was awarded the contract for the building, February 25, at the cost of $709, It was built on the public square with its 3 1/2 feet wide doors facing east on Market Street. There was an outside stone chimney with a fireplace 4 1/2 feet wide. This building was 30 x 40 feet with two stories of oak, poplar, walnut, and blue ash timber. The ceilings in the lower half were 12 feet and in the upper half only eight feet high. This courthouse was later torn down and sold to a farmer, who made it into a barn. John Meek, who made a stable from its logs. Samuel Bradfords, afterwards, bought out Meeks and sold the logs to John Knox, who built them into a dwelling in which he lived in 1880.
Thomas Metcalf, a stone mason who later became the governor of Kentucky, was awarded the contract for building the next courthouse on the square. Jesse Eastburn and Hamilton Dunbar were contractors for carpenter work. The contracts were awarded April 25, 1811. This structure was 40 feet wide and 48 feet long and two stories high. It fronted toward Main Street and had two wide chimneys and a cupola. The total cost was $2,830, and it stood for 65 years.
Around 1870 the question of moving the county seat from West Union to Manchester arose. The Legislature passed an act April 4, 1871 authorizing the voters of the county to cast their ballot for or against the removal. The decision majority of 1,064 votes against the removal carried.
On May 28, 1873 the commissioners took action to build a new courthouse. J.W. Shinn of West Union was given the contract for the amount of $17,300. A permanent injunction was filed against the usage of more than $10,000 of the county funds for the courthouse. The village of West Union donated $3,000 and private donations amounted to $4,400 making enough to complete the new structure by July 4, 1876.
This brick building was 56 x 80 feet. It only served the county for 34 years, when destroyed by fire in the early months of 1910. All records except a few volumes and original papers, belonging to the probate court, clerk of courts, and the recorder , that were kept in the only steel safe in the building, were turned to ashes.
After the courthouse burned, there arose a dispute between Peebles and West Union over relocating the county seat. When it was eventually established that West Union would remain the seat of justice, the Legislature authorized a $50,000 bond issue for the construction of a courthouse.
The present building, erected in 1911, was designed by T. S. Murray and Son Architects, and built by James Shene & Co., building contractors. This courthouse is 60 x 90 feet and fronts on Main Street. It is two stories of buff brick with tiled corridors and a basement. A town clock surmounts the structure.
