Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

The dedication of the new courthouse was truly a
meaningful and memorable event. It was chronicled in
detail in the county papers. All in all, as the Anamosa
Eureka stated. “lt was accepted as a perfectly executed
job throughout, in its inception, its planning, its
financing. its building, its furnishings, and now, its
completion."
Another story, which could be called, "SIXTY-SIX
YEARS OF LIFE WITH THE OLD COURTHOUSE,"
should be told here. It begins with the county offices
being moved to the Shaw Block in 1871 from ‘down
town‘, to be followed by the removal of the courthouse
to the building three years later. In 1874. the county
offices having been used rent-free until then, the City of
Anamosa acquired ownership of the second floor of the
Shaw building, and part of the ground floor. This was
on condition that. if the property ceased to be used for
county purposes, it would revert to the share-holders.
The consideration for the transaction was the payment
of $5,000 by the city, of which some $2.500 had been
raised through private contributions. This, of course,
from a practical standpoint, meant that the county was
using the property it owned without the payment ofany
rent. This arrangement continued to the time the move
of the courthouse to the new building was completed.
As time passed. the physical condition ofthe property
deteriorated- to the point where the continued
occupancy of the building for courthouse purposes was
only maintained on a “make do" basis. There was
general dissatisfaction with the arrangement, and the
physical condition and location of the offices were
disliked and regretted by a growing mumber of patrons
and citizens of the county. The "rent-free" factor,
though. seemed to discourage any other reaction.
However, in 1920. enough public interest had been
generated that the question of whether to issue county
bonds for the purpose of building a new couthouse was
put to a vote. The issue became a hot one, and the
political campaign, pro and con, was called, ‘the battle
of I920.‘ It was, in large part, a battle between
Anamosa and Monticello — not so much whether a new
courthouse should be built. but on the fact that if a new
one were built, it would be at Anamosa, the county seat
since June 1 1, 1847. Given the rivalry existing between
the two towns. this created an impasse, and the issue
was defeated at the election.
But time did not cure the dissatisfaction, generally, of
the people of the county in respect to the courthouse.
As the building further deteriorated, it became evident
that a practical emergency existed. To illustrate, in
1892 some editorial comment in a county paper stated,
“they (the people of Anamosa) certainly ought to be
proud of their investment, for no one outside of
Anamosa ever thinks of classing the old rattletrap as a
courthouse. It is a disgrace to the county." In 1928, a
local editor reported, “it was found necessary last
Saturday to prop the ceiling in the auditor's office to
keep it from descending upon the heads of the auditor
and assistant." It had settled five or six inches and a
crash was evident at any time. “The citizens of Jones
County should be proud of this edifice that houses the
county business. Nowhere in the state can similar
conditions be found."
Notwithstanding the bad publicity, sarcasm and
general uncomplimentary comment. the old Jones
County Courthouse was the scene of a number of
publicized trials. One of these was a portion of the
celebrated “Jones County Calf Case": and there were
several trials involving the the "Cedar County Cattle
The above is a view of the business block where the
county offices and courthouse were located. The
county offices occupy first, second and third floors of
the section of the block at extreme left. The storeroom
on ground floor. on extreme left. was occupied by the
treasurer's office, for which a rental of $360 a year
was paid. As noted by the above. the ground floor of
this building was also occupied by a restaurant “The
Grill", the Mills and Holtman Bakery, and the Mills
and Holtman Grocery. On the second floor over the
Mills and Holtman Grocery were situated two flats.
occupied by families. and the third floor of the same
section was occupied by the Modern Woodmen Lodge.
The center section, upper floor. was occupied by the
court room where trials were often halted by noise on
the brick pavement. shown in the picture.
Bess Sherman, County Recorder. l 932-1 971
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