Newton County - American Courthouses

Newton County is named for John Newton, who was a sergeant who served under General Francis Marion in the Revolutionary War.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Jasper County

E – Lawrence County and Barry County

S – McDonald County

W – Ottawa County, Oklahoma and Cherokee County, Kansas

Created: December 31, 1838

County Seat:

Neosho 1838 – present

County Courthouse – Neosho

Location: 101 South Wood Street / East Spring Street

Built: 1936 – 1937

Style: Art Deco

Architect: Neal C Davis of St. Louis

Contractor: Carthage Marble Works and local trades and labor

Description: The building faces east and is a four story Carthage stone and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds of the Courthouse Square in the center of Neosho. The building has as raised basement on the first story. The north and south wings are lower. The center section has a stone framed entrance with small canopy above. The windows are vertical and the roof line is flat. In the interior is marble wainscoting, fluted marble pilasters and metal staircases. The building has a cross plan. There are several large murals. The County Circuit Court courtroom is located along the east side of the third story. The buiding houses the County Circuit Court of the 40th Judicial Circuit. This was a Work Projects Administration project. The landscape architect was M W Woodward. The building was renovated in 1996 to 1998. The contractor was Roger Hulsey Enterprises.

See: The 40th Judicial Circuit includes McDonald County.

County Judicial Center – Neosho

Location: 123 East Main Street / South Washington Street

Built: 1896

Style: Commercial

Architect: Unknown

Contractor: Unknown

Description: The building faces north and is a two story red colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located in the center of Neosho to the south of the courthouse. The north front has an arched central entrance with large windows on either side. Below the flat roof line is brick ornamentation. In the interior are metal stairs ascending to the second story. There is one County Circuit Court courtroom on the first story. On the second story are two County Circuit Court courtrooms. The building was remodeled in 2017 to 2018 for use as the County Judicial Center. The architect was Inform Architecture and the contractor was CSG Restoration LLC of Columbia.

Note: The building was originally constructed as a livery as the first story floor is slanted to allow for drainage. The building then housed the J C Penny Department store, Smith Insurance and Financial, Comerica Bank in 2014 and then sold to the County in 2014.

History: The county was created in 1838 and Neosho was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a hewn-log structure built in Neosho by Milton Sexton in 1840 to 1841 at a cost of $150 to $300. The second courthouse was a two story brick structure built by John Plummer in 1847 to 1851 at a cost of $3000. This building was destroyed during the Civil War. The third courthouse was a two story frame structure built by J C Herms in 1867 at a cost of $2500 to 4600. The fourth courthouse was designed by C B Clarke of St. Louis and constructed by E W Bray in 1877 at a cost of $10,000. The courthouse deteriorated and was later razed in 1936. The Hotel England built in 1444 on the southeast corner of the Courthouse Square, was used as a temporary courthouse in the 1930s. The dining room was used as the courtroom. The fifth and present courthouse was constructed in 1936 to 1937 at a cost of $162,687.