Our courthouse should be preserved

Our Hill County Courthouse is a beautiful historic building worthy of preservation and deserves to be an active part of Hill County and Havre's future.

I commend the Hill County Commissioners on their quest to preserve and maintain our courthouse and applaud their efforts seeking CTEP funding to keep our courthouse safe and beautiful. This is not to impugn the efforts of the Softball Association. Both projects are worthy of funding and assets to the community.

Our Hill County Courthouse is the most beautiful piece of architecture in the entire county's collection of outstanding buildings. Set at the crossroads between Havre's Old Downtown business district and the Havre Residential Historic District, it sets a prime example of community pride and determination over the course of Hill County's existence.

Hill County was created as the result of an election held on Feb. 28, 1912. Havre was chosen as the county seat, but a courthouse was not constructed until 1915. Several county offices were located at the old city hall at the northeast corner of 1st Street and 4th Avenue, and others were rented throughout the city.

It was not easy convincing the people of Hill County that a courthouse was needed.The first election held Aug. 2, 1913, was 531 for and 628 against. Another election was held Nov. 3, 1914, and this time the proposal for a courthouse and jail passed, 1,038 for and 1,027 against. A very close election, indeed.

Havre architect Frank F. Bossout was chosen as the architect. Bonds as the result of the election amounted to $125,000, to include the purchase of the property and construction. Efforts in 1912 were to put our courthouse in the location of the old high school, at the time between 7th and 8th streets and 3rd and 4th avenues, but a lawsuit prevented that from happening. Instead, the county purchased land where the Catholic Church stood and construction began on our courthouse in 1915.

Frank Bossout was responsible for a number of buildings in Havre including the original water works building, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, the Masonic Temple, the Carnegie Library, Buttrey's Department Store, the old City Hall, Donaldson Hall and several private homes including the Lou and Harriet Lucke home at 900 3rd Ave., F. A. Buttrey home at 535 2nd Ave., and the H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack second home at 532 2nd Ave.

Bossout chose the Beaux Arts style for our Hill County Courthouse.The style was popular at the time and stressed classical motifs taken from Roman and Greek architecture.It is a cube-shaped building with a terra-cotta exterior and painted white on most of our building and gray scagliola (painted to look like granite) on the bottom. Many people swear that it is stone at the base of our courthouse, but an examination of broken pieces at the corners debunks this myth. Granite, however, was used mostly for steps and the decorative molding over the West entrance of our Courthouse. Classical motifs such as the Corinthian half-columns, egg and dart molding, Della Robia designs and Tudor roses are just a few of the interesting designs on our beautiful Hill County Courthouse.

By February 1916, our courthouse was occupied by various county offices. The Plaindealer described our courthouse as "well appointed," stating that "the people of Hill County can take just and pardonable pride in that structure, which is unique in buildings of this class. Unlike practically all other similar buildings, the Hill County Courthouse is constructed along the lines of the modern office building and is utterly devoid of "gingerbread" ornamentation, towers, and other unnecessary adjuncts." It goes on to mention the furnishings and counters of oak and steel, respectively, and takes pride in the fact that with the exception of wood door moldings, the entire building was constructed of concrete and steel. The ventilation system, plate glass windows that were "large and plentiful," and the vacuum cleaning system were praised as being part of the building's features. It is interesting to note that some of the furnishings mentioned are still in use at our courthouse, and the vacuum system is still visible in certain parts of our courthouse, though no longer useable.

References to the interior mention the abundant use of Kensota stone for wainscoting and on the floors in the halls, restrooms and the rotunda. This is the beautiful stone one can still see when entering the first floor of our courthouse. The rotunda was open from the lower level to the third floor, capped with a dome at the top. Further detail of the appearance of our courthouse interior are not found in the Plaindealer or the Hill County Democrat. Records indicate that two firms, the Odin Oyen Company from LaCrosse, Wis., and Throweed (T. E.) Ronne of Chinook did interior design work. What isn't clear in any records that have been found is exactly what each firm did. What is known is both painted murals. In 1963, Arvid Kristoffersen was hired to paint new murals, as our courthouse was beginning to show her age and the commissioners wanted something new. In an interview, Kristoffersen said that one of those murals, a covered wagon scene, was one he "touched up," and the others were of his creation.

In 1916, the jail addition was started on the north side of our courthouse. Completed in 1917, it had cell blocks from Fort Assinniboine to house prisoners and also contained living quarters for the sheriff and his family. Other changes to our courthouse were minimal, mostly consisting of offices such as the Selective Service and Hill County Library, moving in and out of the building. In 1977, the interior of our courthouse was completely renovated.

The front steps adventure is a story that needs to someday be interpreted, but this article is not the one. The end result is a safe set of stairs to access the front doors. In 2008, work began to upgrade, reconfigure and make safe the lower level of our courthouse and that, too, was worth both the wait and the money. That goal was completed in 2009. In 2011, all of the windows were replaced because the 1970s replacement windows were failing. They were replaced with custom Pella windows that are both energy-efficient and more in keeping with the original appearance of our courthouse. The front doors have also been replaced. It was due to these efforts that I was proud to present the 14th Annual Havre/Hill County Historic Preservation Award in 2012 to our Hill County Courthouse, perfect timing for the Hill County Centennial Celebration.

Our Hill County Courthouse is truly a community asset. Our forefathers were proud of it; we should be to and honor their memory by keeping it upgraded, safe and functioning for another 100 years.