CLARKE HISTORICAL MUSEUM
  • Home
    • Land Acknowledgement
    • How to find us
  • About the Clarke
    • Annual Report 2023
    • Staff & Board
  • Exhibits
    • Native Plant Garden
    • Main Hall >
      • History of McKinleyville
      • Emmerson Room >
        • Arsenic and Old Lace: A Victorian Cookbook
        • The Carolyn Burns Foundation
      • Historic Firearms
      • Clarke Bird Collection
      • Clarke Gem & Mineral Collection
    • Nealis Hall >
      • About Nealis Hall
      • History of Nealis Hall
      • Florence Harrie (1889–1981, Karuk)
      • Traditional Tastes
      • Shounarr Gaplhouyit! Let’s Eat!
      • Hover Collection
      • Wiyot People, Places, and Practices
      • Traditional Legacy: Baskets from the 1800's
      • Past Mini-Exhibits
    • Community Case
    • Opera Alley Mural >
      • Past Opera Alley Exhibits
    • WWII Memorial Exhibit at the Humboldt County Airport
    • Virtual Tours
    • Online Exhibits >
      • Historic Homicide: The Kjer Family Tragedy
      • Historic Homicide: Northern Humboldt’s Mysterious Murderer: The Unsolved Cases of Bert Porter and Joseph Vierra
      • MPH
      • Immigration, Expulsion, Homecoming
    • Exhibit Archive >
      • Membership
      • Fall Harvest
      • Stitched in Time: Humboldt County's Quilted History
      • Weaving Wonders: Exceptional Design
      • Nellie McGraw
      • Ecological Management
      • Hailstone Collection
      • Maritime History
      • Notable Women of Humboldt County
      • Bigfoot Quilt Raffle
  • Events
    • Second Annual Night At The Museum Gala 2025
    • Arts Alive
    • Saturday Speaker Series
    • Members Only Preview
    • Humboldt Marble Weekend 2025
  • Membership
  • Support
    • Admission
    • Volunteer
    • Donations & Fundraisers
    • Sponsorships
    • Internships
  • Blog
  • Education
    • Untitled
    • TikTok Videos
    • Teacher Resources
    • Additional Resources
    • Research >
      • Humboldt History
      • Local History Links
  • Tours
    • School Tours >
      • Donate & Schedule Your Tour
    • Chinatown Walking Tours
  • NCMA

Artifact Spotlight: The Story of the Old Eureka Courthouse

6/10/2018

4 Comments

 
Picture
Cat #: 2007.048.121
While driving through Eureka, one of the most imposing buildings is the County Courthouse, located at 825 Fifth Street. The current courthouse was built in 1960 after the previous courthouse, pictured above, was torn down. In the museum collection, we have a number of photos of the old Courthouse showing how the building-and the town around it-changed over time.
Picture
The Old Courthouse after one of the earthquakes that had struck the area. Note the tilted Minerva Statue on the dome. Following this earthquake, the statues were removed from the roof of the building c. 1920 Cat #: D82.024.064A-B
Picture
The tower of the courthouse after the statues of Minerva and other goddesses had been removed. Cat #: 2005.063.665A&C
The first Eureka Courthouse was nearly as old as the county itself. Construction began in 1883 and was completed in 1889 and was built on land that was once used as a pasture in town. This courthouse was built less than a decade after Humboldt County was carved out of Trinity County, using local materials such as clay near Myrtle Grove cemetery, granite and gravel from the Mad River, and sand from local dunes. The cornerstone of the building was laid on July 4, 1885 by the Free and Accepted Mason Humboldt Lodge No 79, led by John M. Melendy, the inspector of the Masonic district. The festivities to related to the laying of the cornerstone included a parade ("with a wagon containing a huge tea pot, of sufficient size to furnish tea to the entire multitude") and the creation of a time capsule situated inside the cornerstone itself. The timecapsule included a number of items, including a bible, constitutions and bylaws of many of the local Fraternal Orders,  a list of United States Presidents, photographs of important citizens, a copy of the act to create Humboldt County, and records related to the incorporation of the Eel River and Eureka railroad.
Picture
Photo of the Courthouse, Cat #: 2005.063.666A
The Courthouse was a large, imposing Italianate structure featuring 14 statues representing various Roman Goddesses including Minerva, Flora, Ceres, Fortuna, and Juno. The statues were made of zinc and painted over grey with grey colored sand to appear stone-like. In 1893, a clock was added to the tower, similar to a clock installed on a courthouse in Santa Rosa. The building became a mainstay in the community as a number of local groups used the massive staircase in front of the courthouse to stage group photos. Many of these large group photos are currently on display as part of the Fraternal Orders of Humboldt County exhibit.

Picture
A photo of the 1924 fire in the Courthouse tower. Cat #: B60.039.005A-B
Picture
IOOF Members on the steps of the courthouse, c 1910. Cat #: 1964.001.112
Picture
The Courthouse, c 1920. Cat #: 2005.059.036
In 1924, the courthouse made headlines as far east as Nevada when a painter's blowtorch set the tower ablaze.  It cause $60,000 in damage, and the tower survived for another 26 years before it was removed in 1950 for safety purposes. Following a devastating earthquake, the whole building was condemned and demolished in 1956. However, the original flagpole for the courthouse remains, even to today.
Picture
Picture
In 1953, in celebration of the County's centennial, a pamphlet about the construction of the courthouse was produced by Howard B. Melendy. Click on the link below to read the full booklet.
Humboldt County Centennial 1953 by Howard B Melendy
Additional information in this article was found in the following places:
Nevada State Journal, Reno, NV 7 Sept 1924
Courthouses of California: An Illustrated History by Ray McDevitt
​Humboldt County Historical Society as cited here
Waymarking
You can see more photos of the courthouse here at "Courthouse History"
4 Comments
Carl young
9/25/2022 08:33:30 am

Excellent article and background of the courthouse. Thank you for sharing

Reply
Chuck Petty
12/5/2022 09:02:13 am

Photo 2005.059.036 was taken in the early 1930s not 1920 as evidenced by the age of the car in the foreground. Flagpole is 1923 vintage. Photo D82.024.064A is circa 1906 or shortly thereafter, not 1920 evidenced by the leaning Minerva statue caused by the 1906 earthquake.

Reply
Ryan Carney link
7/9/2023 01:02:45 pm

Hi thankks for sharing this

Reply
Kathy Janes
12/6/2023 07:25:41 pm

Lived in Eureka with my husband & son.
Rick became Sheriff when Jack Emery walked out, Rick finished his 2 year term, and then was elected Sheriff in 1982.
We enjoyed the life style of Eureka and the people there.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    About

    Keep up with the Clarke through our Blog!
    Posts are sent out once a month with our monthly newsletter, but they post here throughout the month so check back each week for something new!

    ​Posts created by Katie Buesch, Interim Director-Curator unless otherwise noted.

      Subscribe to our newsletter!

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    August 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    October 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018

Clarke Historical Museum
240 E Street
​Eureka, California 95501
[email protected]
(707) 443-1947
Open Wednesday - Sunday
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Closed Monday and Tuesday

​Open until 8:30 p.m. during Friday Night Markets
Open until 9 p.m. during Eureka Arts Alive
Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved.