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The
First Courthouse
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The original
Courthouse, completed in 1881 |
In February 1851,
Oconto County separated from Brown County, and held the distinction of
being the largest county in Wisconsin until it was divided to half its
original size by act of the Wisconsin Legislature, March 3, 1879, when
Marinette County was formed.
The first Marinette
County Board of Supervisors met on March 11, 1879 in the office of J.A.
Van Cleve, a lumberman and surveyor, who was to be Marinette
County's first County Clerk. This meeting was attended by Andrew C.
Merryman, representing the Township of Marinette as Chairman, and
Mr. William J. Shepherd, representing the Township of Peshtigo.
Because of the diverse
locations of the various county officers (see First Board of Supervisors
Meeting), the Board voted, on July 15, 1879, that "the proposition
of the Honorable I. Stephenson to donate to the County of
Marinette the tract of land west of the N. Ludington Company Store for a
Court House site be accepted, and that the thanks of this Board be
tended to him for his liberality, and record of the same be entered in
the Journal of Proceedings."
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The old Jail and
Sheriff's Home |
The County Clerk was
authorized to engage George Clark, an engineer from London,
England, who had come to America in 1871 as a civil engineer with the
Union Pacific Railroad. In 1874, he settled in what was to become
Marinette County. Clark's illustrious career included building programs
in Calcutta, Hong Kong, and Brazil. He was instructed "to make
plans and specifications of a Jail and Court House not to exceed in
value $15,000 when complete."
On Monday, July 28,
1879, Mr. Clark submitted his first plans for the jail and courthouse;
on Thursday, August 7, 1879, he submitted revised plans, and these were
accepted by the Board of Supervisors. The bid of Charles Patude
for building the basement of these two structures was approved on
Saturday, August 16, 1879, and on Wednesday, September 24, the proposal
of Calix Merchant to furnish materials and erect the super
structure at a cost of $9,400 was accepted.
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