Jasper County - American Courthouses

Jasper County is named for William Jasper, who was a famous scout for the Continentals during the American Revolutionary War.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Barton County

E – Dade County and Lawrence County

S – Newton County

W – Cherokee County, Kansas

Created: January 29, 1841

County Seat:

Carthage 1842 – present

County Courthouse – Carthage

Location: 302 South Main Street / East 3rd Street

Built: 1894 – 1895

Style: Romanesque

Architect: Maximillan A Orlopp Jr. of New Orleans, Louisiana

Contractor: L W Divelbis of Olathe, Kansas

Description: The building faces north and is a three story course gray colored Carthage stone structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds of the Courthouse Square in the center of Carthage and is 106 feet by 133 feet. The north front has as a projecting center section with arched entrance on the first story with six arched openings on the second story. On either side of entrance rise two round stone towers with conical roofs. On each corner of the building is a square stone tower with peaked roofs. There are stone dormers on the roof. On the center of the roof is a high square clock tower rising to a conical roof with small cupola at the top. In the interior, the walls of the corridors are green painted plaster with a dark wood dado. The floor is covered with brown colored linoleum tiles. Two U-plan stairways are located in the north-south hallway, one on the east side of the south hall and the other on the west side of the north hall. These stairs are of cast iron and wood. The County Circuit Court courtrooms are located on the third story. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 29th Judicial Circuit.

See: The architect, Maximillan A Orlopp Jr. of New Orleans, Louisiana also designed the old courthouse in Texas in Dallas County.

Note: In the building is an open cage manually operated elevator.

See: National Register of Historic Places – Jasper County Courthouse

County Courts Building – Joplin

Location: 603 South Pearl Avenue / 7th Street

Built: 2020 – 2023

Style: Modern

Architect: Treanor HL Architects of Lawrence

Contractor: Crossland Construction Company Inc. of Springfield

Description: The building faces north and is a two story steel, glass and concrete structure. The building is located in the center of Joplin. The east wing has high pillars supporting a large flat roof. The building has blue colored tinted glass with pillars supporting the lower roof. A high porch extends along the east side. On the west side, the west wing has long narrow glass windows and a flat roof line. In the interior, the east wing has a spacious lobby with open stairs rising to the second story. The four County Circuit Court courtrooms are located along the west side of the second story in the west wing. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 29th Judicial Circuit.

County Courthouse (demolished) – Joplin

Location: 601 South Pearl Avenue / West 6th Street

Built: 1974 – 1975

Style: Modern

Architect: Allgeier, Martin & Associates of Joplin

Contractor: V S DiCarlo General Contractors Inc. of Kansas City.

Description: The building faced north and was a three story concrete and glass structure. The building was located in the center of Joplin. The entrances were framed with white colored concrete. The first story was dark brown colored brick and the upper stories had vertical narrow white colored dividers. The roof line was flat. The buiding housed the County Circuit Court of the 29th Judicial Circuit. The building was demolished in 2023 and is now a parking lot on the north side of the new courthouse.

History: The county was created in 1841 and Carthage was selected as the county seat in 1842. The first court met at the log cabin home of George Hornback to the north of Carthage. The first courthouse was a one story structure built by Levi H Jenkins in Carthage in 1842 at a cost of $398.50. The second courthouse was a two story brick structure designed by S W Walcott and built by Gabriel Johnson in 1849 to 1854 at a cost of $4,760. The courthouse was destroyed by fire in October, 1863. For the next thirty years, a remodeled jail was used as the third courthouse as well as a Baptist church. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 1894 to 1895 at a cost of $100,000. The Joplin Courthouse was constructed in 1974 to 1975 and demolished in 2023. The County Courts Building was constructed in 2020 to 2023 at a cost of $35,000.000.