THE SECOND GILA COUNTY COURTHOUSE GLOBE, ARIZONA n~3 U

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u .„„D£PAR™ENT OF INTRODUCTION !|IIIM«ES. . This report is about the Second Gila County Courthouse, located in Globe, Arizona. It includes a description of the building, a brief historic sketch, and a statement of the building's significance and historic meaning to the community. The contents are divided into three sections: The Past, a look at the events and people which surrounded the construction and early use of the buildingj The Present, an examina- tion into the condition and use of the courthouse today; and The Future, speculation about what might become of the courthouse. This document will hopefully stimulate a new appreciation for this building and a deeper insight into its role in the life of Globe and Gila County. LOCATION OF GLOBE AND GILA COUNTY WITHIN THE STATE OF ARIZONA

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The Globe Mining District was organized in 1875 after mining expeditions into the Apache territory of the Pinal Mountains uncovered rich deposits of silver ore. Ac- cording to Dan Rose, the first white prospector in the Globe area was W.H. Holpfies in 1868. The first recorded claims were not made until the early 18701s by Benjamin Regan and Charles Mason, among others, and included the Globe Mine, bringing the name "Globe" to the area. Regan and Mason were also a part of the party which dis- covered the Silver King Mine in 1875. Fostered by stories of the Silver King and the construction of a military road by General Stoneman, more and more settlers came to tlie Globe District.

"Globe City", to distinguish it from the district, was laid out in the summer of 1876 by surveyor A.J. Pendleton. The site was chosen because of its convenience as a distribution point and of its proximity to an adequate water supply from Pinal Creek. The first buildings were constructed in the fall of 1876 and on December 22, 1877 a post office was established with Edwin M. Pearce as postmaster. The Arizona Silver Belt newspaper began publication in 1878 through the efforts of A.W. Hackney. The word "City" was also deleted from the town's name this same year. Two years later Globe was incorporated as a Village of Pinal County and the first elected of- ficers took their positions on January 1881.

Just one month later, February 8, 1881, Gila County was created out of parts of Pi- nal and Maricopa Counties. (A further addition was made in 1889 from Yavapai County.) Globe became the county seat and George Danforth, J.K. Smith, and F.W. Westmeyer were elected county supervisors on April ninth. With a county, a county seat and county officials, the need arose for county offices, a jail, and a courthouse. Un- til 1888 these county functions were distributed throughout several existing commer- cial buildings. Included were some adobe structures covering part of two lots on the Northeast corner of Broad and Oak Streets. These were purchased from J.J. Winger and a Mr. Hamilton for a total price of $1,^50 in August of 1882. These combined lots would serve as the site for both the first and the second courthouses.

THE FIRST GILA COUNTY COURTHOUSE

The dream of the first courthouse became reality when the principal businessmen of the county drew up, signed and presented to the board of supervisors a petition re- questing them to "take initiatory steps toward erecting a courthouse, and refunding the existing bonded indebtedness of Gila County." The board responded to the peti- tion at their meeting of May 21, 1887, by approving a motion to have Mr. Andre Maurel draw up plans for a courthouse. In June bids were requested for construe- tion and in August the major contracts were awarded: stone quarrying, transporting and masonry work to Joseph Thompson, and excavation work to E. Lidolph. Later in the fall bonds were issued to help pay for the construction. Excavation was com- pleted and paid for on October fifteenth and by December third the foundations and first three feet of wall were accepted.

It still took another full year, until the fall of 1888, before the courthouse was completed. It was a two story structure approximately bS feet wide by 60 feet deep. On the partially sunken lower level was the jail and sheriff's office, and on the upper main floor was the courtroom and official county offices. A flight of wooden stairs connected the main front entrance with the street elevation some eight feet below. The north and east portions of the site were enclosed with a wooden fence and served as an exercise yard for prisoners as well as a location for a temporary structure, the gallows. From its 980 1/2 perch of quarried stone to its iron jail cells and vault doors the "First Gila County Courthouse" was a solid and functional structure. GEORGE WYLIE PAUL HUNT 1859-193^ Member of the Territorial Legislative Assembly in 1905

JOHN W. WENTWORTH 1858-195^ Probate Judge and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors for many years.

WILLIAM ROBERT NORTON 1853-1938 Architect of the Second Gila County Courthouse 1905.

A.W. HACKNEY Editor of the Arizona Silver Belt who pushed for an addition to the first courthouse.

DAVID DEVORE Chairman of the Board of Supervisors 1905.

JUDGE HECHTMAN Helped control the crowd during the attempt to lynch William Baldwin in 1906. 1888 TO 1905

Like many public buildings the first courthouse was not designed to accommodate the growing needs of the community. As early as 1892 a petition was received by the board of supervisors from A.H. Hackney and others "praying that the board cause another story to be erected on the present courthouse." At their January meeting the board appointed a committee to prepare plans and estimates, and find ways and means to raise the money. The Qommittee contacted James Creighton, a Phoenix archi- tect, who prepared an estimate of the work to be done. His report was presented to the board on March the eighth. The board tabled discussion about the building until completion of studies into funding of the county debt. It turned out that the county was without such money and had no other means of raising the resources needed to make the third story addition. The matter was dropped. This was the beginning of a pattern which would continue until 1905; the county needed to build more space but was too far in debt to get the money.

The most important factor in stabilizing the county economic condition occurred in I898. This was the year that the Lewisohn brothers of New York completed their branch line of the Southern Pacific, known as the Gila Valley and Northern Railroad, from Bowie to Globe. The Lewisohns had already purchased the old Dominion Mine in 1895 for its copper, not silver, content. Then they built a new smelter and by 1900 were ready to produce copper on a big scale. In 1903 the Phelps Dodge Corporation, which already owned the United Globe Mine, bought the Old Dominion and with the in- vention of low grade ore smelting the Miami mines started production. Gila County became a "monster copper district."

With this increase of wealth in the county came a shift in public attitude toward the courthouse. Between 1900 and 1901 the demands changed from adding on to the old courthouse to the building of a completely new courthouse. F.H. Christy even prepared plans for a courthouse and jail in the fall of 1901, which was to cost some $5,500. Still the county could not get permission from the territory to raise its bond indebtedness. The county would have to persuade the Congress of the United States to support their bond issue.

THE SECOND GILA COUNTY COURTHOUSE

The United States Congressional and Territorial Legislative Assembly approval final- ly came in February and March of 1905 when it was announced that "the Board of Supervisors of the County of Gila, Territory of Arizona is hereby authorized to issue bonds in the sum of Forty Thousand Dollars for the construction of aCourt House and Jail for said county and vaults for the preservation of its records...." The pro- cess of designing and construction was again set in motion. The bonds were put up for bid and notices to architects for plans and specifications were published in several newspapers. Public and political pressures about the new building and its site were quickly started. The main issues were: What would it look like? and where would it be located?

Among those voicing an opinion was the president of the Old Dominion Commercial Company and member of the legislative assembly council, George Wylie Paul Hunt, who was to become the State of Arizona's first governor. In May of 1905 Mr. Hunt traveled to Nogales with two members of the board of supervisors, Mr. Devore, chairman, and Mr. Butler. In Nogales they visited the new Santa Cruz County Court- house which had been completed in 1902. Mr. Hunt was so impressed with the Santa Cruz building that he placed a photograph of the courthouse in the window of his business establishment.

The question of location was expressed most often by businessmen and taxpayers who felt that purchase of a new courthouse site could be a waste of money. Petitions were drawn up and articles appeard in the paper hoping to prove that public opinion favored the existing courthouse site.

In the summer of 1905 all of the critical questions were answered. On July the first the bonds were issued to the First National Bank of Globe. At their July sixth meeting the board of supervisors considered and upon motion and by unanimous vote selected the present site. At this meeting plans were exhibited by three architectural firms; Trost and Trost of El Paso (formerly of Tucson), Millard SHERIFF J.H. THOMPSON seated outside his office in the second courthouse. C.1907 Others in photo 1. to r. George Henderson, Ralph Sturgis, John Davis, Bill Voris, and Charley Edwards. (A.S.U. Library-Arizona Collection)

GILA COUNTY JAIL c.1910 (Arizona State Library and Archives) and Creighton of Phoenix, and W.R. Norton of Phoenix. These three firms comprised the best designers in the area at this time. On July the fifteenth the "drawings submitted by W.R. Norton" were selected as best meeting the requirements of the county. (Although their plans for the courthouse were rejected, the other archi- tectural firms did find Globe clients interested in their services; Creighton ended up designing the Dominion Hotel, and Trost and Trost worked on the design of the North Globe Library.) Mr. Norton was given until September to make minor revisions which included incorporation of the stone from the first courthouse. A newspaper account of the design described the building in this manner: "Mr. Norton's plan calls for a structure 80 x 80, leaving a jail yard which is required.... The build- ing is planned to be virtually three stories in height as the basement floor is on a level with the lot grade and no excavation is necessary.... The architectural de- sign is classed as modern composite, being adapted from the recognized schools to the twentieth century taste. Much of the ornamentation borders on the Egyptian, while the roof lines suggest the French rennaisance." It was surely and impressive structure for Globe in 1905.

In November the construction contract was awarded to Peter Wilson and in December the old courthouse was vacated and demolished. Construction seemed to be going smoothly with the completion of the basement walls by the end of March 1906. But on May the 24th Peter Wilson quit as contractor claiming the cost of labor and materials was skyrocketing and that he could not complete the building for the contracted price. The supervisors didn't listen to Mr. Wilson and appointed Mr. Ridenour as clerk of construction. Some of the other contractors to work on the building were: stonework, McGinnls and others; brickwork, Briggs and Cottrell; painting, Merritt and Buxton; plumbing and heating, J.S. Scott; and plastering and cement work, Mr. Erb.

The building was completed and offices allocated in March, 1907. On the basement level was the jail room, sheriff's office, and justice's court. The main floor con tained the offices of the assessor, recorder, treasurer, school superintendent, pro bate judge, and the board of supervisors. On the second floor was the courtroom 24 x 48, jury rooms, judge's chambers, law library, and the offices of the court clerk and district attorney. Throughout the building space was reserved for future assignment and flexibility of the interior spaces was stressed In the design. GLOBE LOOKING EAST IN 1909 (A.S.U. Library-Arizona Collection)

GLOBE LOOKING NORTHEAST IN c.1925 (Arizona State Library and Archives)

GLOBE LOOKING EAST IN 197A. Even with this planning, changes came faster than had been anticipated. Just two years later, in 1909, a separate jail was constructed east of the courthouse by the Pauly Jail Building Company of St. Louis, Missouri. In December 1912 R.W. Grabe began remodeling the inside of the courthouse and following his plans over $12,000 worth of changes were made to the building during the next seven years.' Among the many changes were the enlarging of vaults which accounts for the enclosed windows on the south facade, and the addition of two jury rooms in the former attic space of the fourth story. The Second Gila County Courthouse was adapting itself to the changing needs of the community.

HISTORIC EVENTS 13

Many events in the life of Gila County can be connected with the two courthouses. Among the many trials and hangings, two incidents seem worthy of special mention. First; in October of 1889 the Apache Kid, famous Indian scout turned outlaw, and his companions stood trial in the first courthouse for assult on A1 Sieber. Judge Joseph H. Kibbey, later territorial governor, presided at the trial. The Apache Kid was found guilty and sentenced to seven years In the territorial prison In Yuma. In route he escaped by killing Gila County Sheriff Glenn Reynolds and his deputy W.A. Holmes. The Apache Kid was never recaptured. Second; while the second court- house was under construction an attempt was made to lynch William Baldwin, a black man accused of murder. While Judges Hechtman and Nave delayed an angry crowd, Sheriff Thompson hid Baldwin in the outhouse of a near by Baptist Church. When the mob finally stormed the cell block in the otherwise unfinished courthouse, no prisoner was to be found. Mr. Baldwin was later found guilty and was hung at Solomonvi1le.

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THE COURTHOUSE TODAY

Today, 197^, the Second Gila County Courthouse is still the center of county govern- ment. Through the 67 years since its completion in 1907 many changes have occurred both internally and externally. Gila County now has a population of over 30,000, up over 15% since I960; and Globe itself is rapidly approaching 8,000 residents, an in- crease of over 20X in the last fourteen years. Ninety five percent of the county's land area is controlled by the federal government, which includes portions of the Tonto National Forest, Apache and San Carlos Indian Reservations. Copper mining and production are still the economic generators of the county. In Globe the automobile has produced the largest visual change of the last fifty years. Cars and paved streets completely surround the buildings of earlier construction. With the increase in auto- mobile traffic came highways, U.S. 60 and 70, and traffic lights, stop signs and park- ing meters. The other major change concerns electronics. Radios, television sets, computers, microwave towers, and electric power lines all are a part of Globe today. CLOSEUP OF THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE COURTHOUSE showing the deterior- at ion of the ornamentation and de- tails of the structure. Internally the courthouse has had to accommodate these and other technological advan- ces. It has also had to accommodate Increases in people and records. Today the courthouse is full, even overflowing, from records stored in basement rooms and attic nitches to air conditioners and evaporative coolers hanging from window and roof alike Offices have been remodeled, ceilings lowered, walls panelled, lighting added, drink- ing fountains installed, paritions built, doors removed, and teiepnones placed on every desk. What this building has withstood over the years is indescribable. It is very hard to see the courthouse as It was, that classic clean lined structure rising above the other boomtown buildings, Today the courthouse appears tired, like it needs a rest for a job well done. 1 A rest it may get. The county Is again planning for the construction of a new court- house. The design process has once again started and architects are involved in creat ing a new facility for the administration of county business. The Third Gila County Courthouse will be built on a new site outside the Globe downtown area. With the con- struction of a new county courthouse and removal of familiar activities from the rooms of the old courthouse a question naturally arises. What is the fate of this old build ing? Has it come to the end of its ability to serve the needs of the community?

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THE COURTHOUSE TOMORROW

Some of the citizens of Globe feel that the Second Gila County Courthouse can and should continue to provide useful space for emerging needs of the community as well as remain- ing as a symbol of the county's historic past. The GLOBE BICENTINNIAL COMMITTEE has organized and undertaken a program to discover how the old courthouse can be saved and reused as a community resource. Their immediate goal is to see the exterior of the building stabilized from further deterioration and to preserve and restore the exterior ornamentation and details. Accomplishment of this goal by the celebration of the American Revolution Bicentennial as well as a focus for Globe's own centennial in the summer of 1976 has been set. In addition to the immediate stabilization/ preservation program the GLOBE BICENTEN- NIAL COMMITTEE hopes to coordinate two other projects: first, to continue documenta- tion about the courthouse and historical people and events associated with it; and second, to search for possible uses which could be located inside the vacated build- ing. Many ideas have been suggested: museum functions, an art gallery, history dis- plays, meeting rooms, special archives, auxiliary city, county, state or federal of- fices, reading rooms, health services, or community service center facilities. No direction has been chosen and a final decision may be months away, but one thing re- mains clear, public space will be needed and the meaning of this structurally sound building is far greater than the cost of tearing it down.

Like other events in the life of the building, this push for preservation of the Sec- ond Gila County Courthouse arose from the local citizens. If the precedent holds true the success of this project depends upon the degree of interest shown by other members of the community. Support must come from local people who want to see this project carried out. Other agencies of government can then respond with their support. The GLOBE BICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE hopes that this brief look at the history of the Second Gila County Courthouse has helped to explain why it should be saved and that you will help in this endeavor.