Lawrence County - American Courthouses

Lawrence County is named for James Lawrence, who was an American naval officer best known for his last words “Don’t give up the ship!”.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Dade County

E – Greene County, Christian County and Stone County

S – Barry County

W – Newton County and Jasper County

Created: February 14, 1845

County Seat:

Mount Vernon 1845 – present

County Courthouse – Mount Vernon

Location: 1 East Courthouse Square / North Main Street

Built: 1900 – 1901

Style: Romanesque Revival

Architect: George E McDonald of Omaha, Nebraska

Contractor: J D Armstrong of Chicago ( defaulted ) T A Miller of Aurora

Description: The building faces south and is a two story course gray colored limestone and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Mount Vernon. The building is 48 feet by 104 feet and has a raised basement. The south front has an arch at the entrance on the first story. The center section projects slightly from the main building and rises to a peak. There are large square stone towers with domed roofs on each corner. On the center of the roof is a square clock tower with domed roof and statue of Justice at the top. In the interior, the first and second stories are laid out on a cross plan with entrances in the center of each of the four sides. The staircase is in the east section. The decorative woodwork is of oak and walnut and is found in the main staircase, window and door frames, fireplace mantels, and courtroom railings. Features include the inlaid tile floors, wrought-iron brackets on the underside of the main staircase, and the walnut staircase itself with the lighted newel post on the ground floor. The former County Circuit Court courtroom is located on the east side of the second story.

See: The architect, George E McDonald of Omaha, Nebraska designed courthouses in Kansas in Elk County; in Missouri in Andrew County, Bates County and Johnson County; in Nebraska in Fillmore County and Nuckolls County and in Wyoming in Niobrara County.

See: National Register of Historic Places – Lawrence County Courthouse

County Justice Center – Mount Vernon

Location: 240 North Main Street / East Water Street

Built: 2008

Style: Modern

Architect: Richard Warner

Contractor: Crossland Construction of Kansas City

Description: The building faces west and is a two story cement and glass structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Mount Vernon to the north of the courthouse. The west front has a gray colored concrete section with concrete pillars diving the recessed glass panel walls. Above is a wide header. The building is tiered going east. The roof line is flat. In the interior there is a spacious lobby. Central stairs ascend to the second story with skylight above. The three County Circuit courtroom are along the south side. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 39th Judicial Circuit.

See: The 39th Judicial Circuit includes Barry County and Stone County.

History: The county was created in 1845 and Mount Vernon was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a two story frame structure built by Matlock and Sanford in 1846 at a cost of $700. The building was razed in 1916 to 1918. The second courthouse was a three story brick structure built by Stephen M Walcott, of Newton County in 1853 to 1855 at a cost of $7,000. The third and present courthouse was constructed in 1900 to 1901 at a cost of $48,875. The County Justice Center was constructed in 2008.