The Old Clay County Courthouse in

Clay, West Virginia Clay is a town in and the county seat of Clay County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 399 at the 2020 census. It is the only incorporated town in Clay County. Clay is the birthplace of Dailey & Vincent’s bass singer Aaron Mc ...

was designed by

Frank Packard Frank L. Packard (June 11, 1866 October 26, 1923) was a prominent architect in Ohio. Many of his works were under the firm Yost & Packard, a company co-owned by Joseph W. Yost. Life and career Frank Lucius Packard was born June 11, 1866 in ...

and built in 1902. The Beaux-Arts building was located on a hill overlooking the county seat. The courthouse was the site of three notable trials: the Sarah Ann Legg trial of 1905, the first trial of a woman in Clay County for murder, the Booger Hole trial of 1917, in which citizens nearly lynched the defendants, and the Oscar Bail trial of 1953, in which Bail was convicted of killing a mine guard in the

Great Widen Coal Strike Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

. Since a new courthouse opened across the street, the old courthouse houses magistrate's offices and the county extension agent.

References

Beaux-Arts architecture in West Virginia Buildings and structures in Clay County, West Virginia County courthouses in West Virginia Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Frank Packard buildings Government buildings completed in 1902 National Register of Historic Places in Clay County, West Virginia 1902 establishments in West Virginia {{ClayCountyWV-NRHP-stub