The Old Marengo County Courthouse, built in 1850, is a
Greek Revival courthouse building located in
Linden, Alabama,
U.S. It was the third building to serve as the courthouse for
Marengo County, Alabama, out of a total of five purpose-built courthouses.
The courthouse was the site of a notable event on 9 October 1890 when nationally infamous train-robber and outlaw
Reuben Houston "Rube" Burrow was shot and killed in the street in front of the building.
History
After Marengo became a county in 1818, the first building to serve as a courthouse was a simple one-room log cabin. This was too small to meet the needs of the county and on 25 May 1825 the county commissioners met and resolved to have a new two-story structure built on Cahaba Avenue, Linden's business district at that time. This second courthouse was finished in 1827 and was used until it burned in 1848. This saw the construction of the third building in 1850, on the site of the old. The new building would serve as the courthouse continuously, except for a brief period during Federal
Reconstruction when the county seat was moved to
Demopolis, until 1902.
In 1902, the county commissioners decided that a much larger courthouse was needed. They also decided that a better location was needed, as the business district of Linden had shifted to a location about a mile to the southeast. A new three-story
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...
style courthouse with a five-story clock tower was then built at the corner of North Main Street and East Coats Avenue, leaving the old courthouse for use as a public school. In 1915 the building was purchased by the Missionary Society of Linden Baptist Church, for use as a church. In 1949 the building was sold to the
Veterans of Foreign Wars
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as military service members fought in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign land, waters, or a ...
organization for use as a meeting hall. From the 1960s until the present the building has sat largely empty and unused.
Gallery
Image:Old Marengo Courthouse.jpg, The front (northern) and northwestern facade in 1935.
Image:Old Marengo Courthouse 5.jpg, Staircase from ground level to balcony.
Image:Old Marengo Courthouse 4.jpg, Staircase from balcony to ground level.
Image:Old Marengo Courthouse 3.jpg, Second floor courtroom.
Image:Old Marengo Courthouse 2.jpg, Second floor courtroom.
Image:Old_Victorian_Marengo_Courthouse.jpg, The replacement courthouse, built 1902.
External links
Historical Marker Database - Old Marengo County Courthouse
References
{{Registered Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places in Marengo County, Alabama
Greek Revival architecture in Alabama
County courthouses in Alabama
Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama
Government buildings completed in 1850