Established August 20, 1845, Clark County was originally called the Vancouver District after it was removed from three other districts on July 27, 1844. On December 21, 1845, the Oregon Territorial Legislature changed the district name to Vancouver County. Then on September 3, 1849, the legislature changed the name to Clark County in honor of the explorer William Clark. (The county continued to be misspelled until it was corrected in 1925.)
As the population of the county grew, so did the need for a place to conduct county business. In the early years, this location moved from one rented room to another every few months. In 1850, the home of R.H. Lansdale was used as “the place of doing county business.” Later, Amos Short held the first probate court in his home.
In April of 1852, the location moved to a new and controversial location. This time a room in a Hudson Bay Company building was used for Clark County business. The idea of a county in the United States being governed from a room rented from a company connected to the British government probably did not sit well with the local residents and the Clark County Board of Commissioners. As early as July 8, 1852, the Board of Commissioners recognized that a permanent building for conducting county business was necessary. However, for some reason, the county continued to rent rooms for a few more years.
First Clark County Courthouse 1855 – 1883
It wasn’t until 1855 that the Board of Commissioners did anything to remedy the situation. They drew up the specifications for their first permanent courthouse and awarded the contract to build the courthouse to C.C. Stiles for $440. The new courthouse would be 45’ long by 30’ wide by 22’ high.
The first Clark County courthouse opened on October 1, 1855, at 9th and Reserve. No longer did Clark County have to rent rooms to conduct county business, as this building served as the first Clark County courthouse for nearly 30 years. A year after the courthouse had opened, the cost of the project had ballooned to $1000 from added expenses and supposed repairs.
In August of 1883, the Clark County Board of Commissioners decided to replace the old wooden courthouse and jail with a modern brick building. To raise money for the new courthouse, the Board of Commissioners auctioned off the lot that the old courthouse and jail were on. The winning bid was from the Sisters of Charity for $1,030. The Sisters planned to use the lot at 9th and Reserve to expand their hospital, St. Joseph.
2nd Clark County Courthouse 1884 – 1890
In the spring of 1883, construction began on the new three-story brick courthouse at the corner of 11th and Franklin. By June 14th, the Vancouver Independent reported that “work is proceeding on the courthouse, and the upper rooms are nearly all ready for the plasterers.”
By January of 1884, construction was nearly complete, and county officers began to move into the new courthouse. The Board of Commissioners met in the new building for the first time on Monday, February 4, 1884. The new Victorian-style building cost $44,460 to build.
Then, on February 25, 1890, tragedy struck. At 12:15 AM on a windy Tuesday morning, a fire broke out in the county clerk’s office on the 2nd floor. The new courthouse burnt to the ground in less than an hour. It is believed that the fire was caused by faulty furnace pipes. Unfortunately, much of the county records were destroyed in the fire.
3rd Clark County Courthouse 1892 – 1940
By June 4, 1891, work began on a new brick courthouse at the same location. Seattle architect Willis Ritchie designed the new courthouse in the Romanesque Style. Built of red brick and Tenino stone, the new building was four stories high and featured a mansard roof and a large clock tower.
By February 12, 1892, nearly a year after a fire burned down the county’s second courthouse, the Vancouver Weekly Columbian proclaimed that the new courthouse was finished and that the building would be ready for occupancy on March 1st. By March 4th, all county officials, except for the prosecuting attorney, had moved into their new offices. The total cost for the new courthouse, excluding the gas fixtures and furniture, was $113,000.
By the late 1930’s, the Board of Commissioners were getting nervous about another potential fire in the aging courthouse and realized the necessity for a new building. With the population growth in the county over the last 50 years, the county had also outgrown the old courthouse. Not only did the county desperately need a new courthouse, but it also needed a new jail. The existing jailhouse had grown inadequate for housing prisoners.
The Columbian newspaper referred to the old jail building as “Clark County’s old cheesebox” when, on April 25, 1939, three prisoners escaped the jail by sawing through the old soft iron window bars. The old jail was getting a reputation for being easy to escape from when The Columbian declared “Anyone can get out of the Clark County jail with the simplest of tools.” This was an embarrassment for the county, and something would have to be done about it.
In late 1939, the Board of Commissioners applied for a Public Works Administration federal grant to build a new courthouse. The Public Works Administration was born out of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and was designed to reduce unemployment by funding large-scale public works construction projects such as schools, hospitals, and courthouses. Unfortunately, the county failed to secure the grant when they only raised $300,000 out of the $500,000 needed to qualify. The new courthouse would have to be built with funds raised solely by the county.
By January 1, 1940, the Board of Commissioners considered building a smaller courthouse around the existing courthouse to meet the immediate needs of the county. Then expand it later when the money is available. But after much consideration, the Board of Commissioners decided that wasn’t a viable option.
4th Clark County Courthouse 1941 – Present
The new courthouse, designed by famous local architect Day Hilborn, opened on November 29, 1941. The six-story art deco building was 78,000 square feet and built of reinforced concrete. The entire project cost $546,000.
Since the creation of Clark County in 1845, there have been 4 different courthouses. From its humble beginnings as a small 2-story courthouse built of wood to its current six-story Art Deco-themed design built of reinforced concrete, Clark County’s courthouses have grown as the county and its needs have grown.
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