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The Yamhill County Courthouse is a courthouse in Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. Though Yamhill County has had a series of historic courthouses, the first being completed in 1860, the current courthouse dates to 1963.
In December 1846, Joel Perkins, founder of Lafayette, laid out the townsite and persuaded the House of Representatives of the Provisional Government to declare it as the seat of Yamhill County. In the years 1846–50, the various courts were convened in a large, unused room in Hawn's tavern, since there was no courthouse existed. By 1850, the county purchased a courthouse from Lem Scott for $800. This building was at the corner of Third and Jefferson, and seated about 100 people. It burned down in the last week of January, 1857; arson was suspected, but never confirmed.
In September 1857, a petition that was signed by 396 voters called for an election to relocate the seat of county government. In April 1858, W. T. Newby (founder of McMinnville) proposed giving 5 acres (20,000 m2) or 140 lots to the county if McMinnville was chosen as site of the new courthouse. Joel Palmer (founder of Dayton), along with others from his town, proposed giving 32 lots plus $800 towards the new courthouse. In August 1858, Lafayette was chosen by the people to be the site of the new courthouse. Court was being held in the second story of James R. McBride's house in Lafayette, rented for $100 per year.
Medorem Crawford was appointed by the board of commissioners, in October 1858, to call for furnished plans and specifications for the new courthouse, and by December, an architect had been paid for plans and specifications. [1] The superintendent of common schools was ordered to sell all school lands to the highest bidders for a minimum of $5 per acre to help fund the proposed structure. Rush Mendenhall was given the contract to begin construction of the new building in February 1859 for $14,875.
The new courthouse was completed, and the various offices were relocated to it on February 11, 1860. Problems with this courthouse lingered into the mid-1870s. There was a dispute regarding the original sale of lots in 1850 for the first courthouse, and the county was threatened with a lawsuit relating to a cloud in the title of property purportedly owned by one Bartlett Whitlow. In the words of the board, "the title of the whole townsite is liable to be involved in almost endless litigation" due to this dispute.[ citation needed ] Mr. Whitlow was paid $125 for his interest in the townsite and the case went away.
By 1877, crime was becoming a major concern in the county, and the need for a new jail became a priority. It was built during the fall and winter of 1877–1878, by F. M. Vanderpool for $5,900, to include two iron cells. It was located across Jefferson Street from the northwest corner of the courthouse.
It was about this time that various problems arose regarding the maintenance of the courthouse and grounds. For example, a September 1883 entry reads,
The Sheriff be and hereby is directed to remove the pump from the well at the courthouse and have a good and sufficient curb windlass rope and bucket placed therein.[ citation needed ]
There can be little doubt that these problems fueled another effort to relocate the courthouse by the fall of 1887, when the Oregon Legislature ordered a county-wide election be held to determine the seat of county government in Yamhill County.
McMinnville was the selected site, and in April 1888, Hiram Tucker deeded a 200' x 180' lot in McMinnville for the new courthouse, and the board accordingly ordered that "said grounds be and the same are selected and adopted as the site and grounds for a courthouse and county building".[ citation needed ] The contract for the new building was let to the Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company, for $45,000. Sebastian Brutscher, one of the county commissioners, protested the partial payment to the contractor for construction activities during the fall 1888; he strongly believed that the actions taken to build the new structure and relocate to McMinnville were illegal. Final construction costs, including a jail, approached $62,000. The new courthouse covered an area of 9,000 square feet (840 m2) and was 121 feet (37 m) high.
Being sensitive to the local furor regarding the matter, the board of commissioners published a notice on December 1, 1888 that
on Monday the 7th of January, 1889, that all records, files, books, papers and documents of every nature, kind and description belonging to said Yamhill County now on file and kept in the various offices and in custody of the various officers of said county in Lafayette and all of the office furniture, fixtures, implements and movable property belonging to said county shall be removed from their present place of keeping to the new County Seat in the town of McMinnville.[ citation needed ]
The old courthouse in Lafayette was donated to the Evangelical Church and was used as a seminary school until 1900, thereafter serving as a broom factory. This brick structure was still in good condition when it was torn down in 1922.[ citation needed ]
The first official session of the board of commissioners in the new courthouse was on January 9, 1889. The first full-time janitor/groundskeeper was J. H. Clubine. He was to "keep the Court Rooms and all halls clean and tidy, and the wood boxes for all, offices and Court Rooms filled with wood, as well as mow the lawns and keep the grounds in as good condition as possible, for which he is to receive $10 per month."[ citation needed ] Tales of a "midnight" horse ride by McMinnville citizens to "steal" all official county records and other assets and remove them to the new building arose within a few decades, but contemporary newspaper articles indicate the move was done in a peaceful manner in broad daylight, albeit under guard.[ citation needed ]
By 1890, water was being supplied to the courthouse by the McMinnville Water Works, and electric lights were furnished by 1892. In the early 1890s, the water and light bill ran between $10 and $13 per month.
By the mid-1950s, water leaks in the roof and resultant dry rot threatened the building's structural integrity, and caused electrical problems. A fire on August 9, 1954, damaged the courthouse enough to generate county-wide discussions regarding a new building. Maintenance costs for the building were reaching new highs, and county citizens eventually approved a $1,000,000 bond for construction of the present structure in 1959. The cornerstone was set for the existing courthouse on October 5, 1963; [2] it was completed and occupied in 1964. The new courthouse was largely constructed around the old, and the latter was demolished to make way for the new building.
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Matthew Paul Deady was a politician and jurist in the Oregon Territory and the state of Oregon of the United States. He served on the Oregon Supreme Court from 1853 to 1859, at which time he was appointed to the newly created federal court of the state. He served as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon in Portland, as the sole Judge until his death in 1893. While on the court he presided over the trial that led to the United States Supreme Court decision of Pennoyer v. Neff concerning personal jurisdiction.
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The News-Register is a newspaper published in McMinnville, Oregon, United States. It is a semi-weekly community newspaper serving McMinnville and the surrounding Yamhill Valley. The News-Register Publishing Co. and parent holding company Oregon Lithoprint, Inc. are a closely held corporation owned by members of the Bladine family of McMinnville.
Fort Yamhill was an American military fortification in the state of Oregon. Built in 1856 in the Oregon Territory, it remained an active post until 1866. The Army outpost was used to provide a presence next to the Grand Ronde Agency Coastal Reservation. Several officers stationed at the United States Army post prior to the American Civil War would later serve as generals in that war.
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KLYC is a radio station licensed to serve McMinnville, Oregon and surrounding areas such as the state capitol, Salem, United States. The station's broadcast license is held by Wesley Simkins, through licensee ProMedia Partners LLC.
Thomas E. Bunn is a former law enforcement officer and politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. A Republican, he served part of a term in the Oregon House of Representatives while two brothers served in the Oregon State Senate. A former sheriff’s deputy in Yamhill County, he later served two terms as a county commissioner. He also was mayor of Amity and a member of their city council.
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Robert Valentine Short was an American politician and land surveyor in Oregon. A native of Pennsylvania, he traveled the Oregon Trail where he eventually settled in Yamhill County. He was a member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention and later the Oregon House of Representatives. Short also served in the Indian Wars and lived in Portland.
The Black Hawk County Courthouse is located in downtown Waterloo, Iowa, United States. It is the third dedicated courthouse to house the county's offices since it was created in 1843.
The Yamhill River lock and dam was completed in 1900. It was built near Lafayette, Oregon, to allow better river transport on the Yamhill River from Dayton, to McMinnville, Oregon. While the Corps of Engineers had recommended against construction of the lock, it was built anyway, largely as a result of political effort by the backers of the project. For almost forty years prior to the lock construction there had been efforts made to construct a lock and dam on the Yamhill River.
Coordinates: 45°12′43″N123°11′34″W / 45.211853°N 123.192664°W