The Beckham County Courthouse, located in Courthouse Square in Sayre, is the

county courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

of Beckham County, Oklahoma. The courthouse is considered a local landmark because it is the tallest building in Sayre. It is also one of the few courthouses in Oklahoma that has a dome.

Description

The courthouse building was built in 1911, the courthouse was designed by the architecture firm of Layton, Smith & Hawk and constructed by Oklahoma Quarries & Construction Co. The courthouse sits on a parcel of land in downtown Sayre, at the intersection of Third and Walnut Streets. It is a three-story building measuring in the east-west direction and in the north-south direction. It is faced with tan bricks and stone. The east and west entrances to the courthouse each feature two

Tuscan column The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but with ...

s which span the second and third floors; the columns are flanked by brick

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s. A

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian R ...

lated cornice and a brick

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

encircle the building at its roof line. . Although the NRHP application did not list a particular style of architecture, another source claims that the building blends Neo-Classical and Second Renaissance Revival styles."Beckham County Courthouse." BlogOklahoma.us.
Accessed May 31, 2016. A large dome supported by twelve

Doric column The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of c ...

s rises from an octagonal base on the roof of the courthouse. A smaller dome, similarly styled and supported by twelve columns, rises from the top of the main dome. The large dome has flat panels for clocks facing four directions.

Culture

The courthouse appeared in the film ''

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Priz ...

'', a 1940 adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel. Families headed to California (such as the Joads of the film) passed through Sayre on

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

, and many viewed the city as the start of the West. The courthouse was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on August 23, 1984.

Notes

References

{{NRHP in Beckham County, Oklahoma Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Government buildings completed in 1911 Buildings and structures in Beckham County, Oklahoma County courthouses in Oklahoma 1911 establishments in Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Beckham County, Oklahoma