Cape Girardeau County - American Courthouses

Cape Girardeau County is named for Sieur de Girardot, who was a French officer and an early explorer of the region.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Perry County

E – Union County, Illinois and Alexander County, Illinois

S – Scott County and Stoddart County

W – Bollinger County

Created: October 1, 1812

County Seat:

Jackson 1812 – present

Old County Courthouse – Jackson

Location: 100 Court Street / West Main Street

Built: 1906 – 1908

Style: Beaux Arts

Architect: Patrick Henry Weathers of Jackson, Mississippi

Contractor: M T Lewman and Company of Louisville, Kentucky

Description: The building faces south and is a three story white colored limestone and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Jackson. The building 81 feet by 108 feet. The south front has a large portico with two high columns of Bedford limestone and recessed entrance. A wide cornice runs below the roof line. On the center of the roof is a large square dome with clock and formerly a green colored copper roof. In the interior there are tile floors, Tennessee marble wainscoting and a stained glass skylight. The former County Circuit Court courtroom is located on the east half of the second story and is now the Commissioner’s Meeting Room. The architect was P H Weathers and the contractor was M T Lewman and Company of Louisville, Kentucky. In 2024 restoration work replaced the copper dome and repaired the stone work.

See: The architect, Patrick Henry Weathers of Jackson, Mississippi, designed courthouses in Louisiana in Tensas Parish; in Mississippi in Lamar County, Lee County and Marion County; in Missouri in Daviess County and Stoddart County; and in Oklahoma in Ellis County, Logan County and Washington County.

Note: Daviess County has a courthouse of the same design, built by Weathers in 1906-08 and Stoddart County, adjacent to Cape Girardeau, remodeled in 1909 using Weathers’ same design, but with brick as the principal material.

County Courthouse – Jackson

Location: 203 North High Street / West Washington Street

Built: 2018 – 2020

Style: Modern

Architect: Treanor HL of Kansas City

Contractor: Penzel Construction of Jackson

Description: The building faces east and is a three story buff brick, glass and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Jackson to the northwest of the old courthouse. The roof line is flat. In the interior, the entrance is an open two-story space with large glass openings to allow natural light into the building. On the first floor are two County Circuit Court courtrooms and a jury orientation room. Up the entrance stairs to the second story are two additional County Circuit Court courtrooms. The third story includes the final two County Circuit Court courtrooms, judge’s chambers and drug court.

See: The 32nd Judicial Circuit includes Bollinger County and Perry County.

History: The county was created in 1812 and Jackson was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a barn like structure built in 1818 by John Davis at a cost of $2,450. It was first thought that Cape Girardeau would be the county seat of Cape Girardeau County. But because of a legal question concerning the title to the land donated to the county, commissioners chose not to build on the Cape Girardeau site. Instead they bought 50 acres in nearby Jackson. The building was sold in 1839. The second courthouse was a two-story, brick and stone building with cupola and courtroom on the second story built in 1837 on the public square at a cost of $5,000. The building was destroyed by fire on July 18, 1870. The third courthouse was a two story brick and stone structure designed by E D Baldwin of St. Louis and built by Joseph Lansmann in 1870 to 1872 at a cost of $25,000. The building was razed in 1908 to make was for the fourth courthouse constructed in 1906 to 1908 at a cost of $125,000. The fifth and present courthouse was constructed in 2018 to 2020 at a cost of $18,000,000. The old courthouse and jail were restored at a cost of $9,800,000.

County Administration Building – Jackson

Location: 1 Barton Square / Washington Street

Built: 1985 – 1986

Style: Modern

Architect: Phillips / Dudley / Associates Inc.

Contractor: Walter Brockmiller, Inc. of Farmington

Description: The building faces west and is a two story concrete structure. The building has a hipped roof. In 2025, the county offices will be moved into the old courthouse.

Cape Girardeau City Hall – Cape Girardeau

Location: 44 North Lorimer Street / Themis Street

Built: 1854

Style: Classical Revival

Architect: Joseph Lansman of Cape Girardeau

Contractor: Joseph Lansman of Cape Girardeau

Description: The building faces east and is a two story red colored brick and wood structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Cape Girardeau on a rise overlooking the downtown and Mississippi River. The east front has a large portico supported by four white colored columns rising to a pediment at the roof line. On the center of the roof is a square white colored wood cupola. In 1888, the building was remodeled with two wings and a cupola added. The architect was Jerome B Legg of St. Louis. In 1959 a thirty foot annex was constructed on the west side of the building. The architect was John Boardman of Cape Girardeau. The building served as a courthouse until 2020, when the building became the Cape Girardeau City Hall.

See: National Register of Historic Places – Cape Girardeau Court of Common Pleas

History: Known as the Common Pleas, the building has served as a military headquarters, a prison for Confederate soldiers, a hospital and a courthouse. In 2020, the building became the Cape Girardeau City Hall. Incorporated into the building was the Carnegie Library constructed in 1922 and joined to the Common Pleas by a new structure constructed in 2019 to 2020. The architect was Treanor HL of Kansas City and the contractor was Penzel Construction Company Inc. of Jackson.