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HISTORY OF THE HANCOCK COUNTY COURTHOUSE
BY JIM PFEIFFER
JHE HANCOCK COUNTY COURTHOUSE, standing like a shabby dowager from another era among modern surroundings, will celebrate her 70th birthday in September, 1981.
A fresh coat of paint this summer brightened her exterior; but like a dowdy old lady wearing heavy makeup, she is beginning to show her age beneath the cosmetics.
Paint and plaster shower down from her cracked interior walls, rain and wind whistle through her out-of-plumb and broken windows. Additionally, she contains space for only about two more years' accumulation of the steadily-increasing load of records straining her seams.
Nevertheless, she already has outlived three of her predecessors by many years. Severely battered by Hurricane Camille in 1969, she recovered from a pounding that would have proved fatal to a less valiant lady. Today, the loss of her cupola is the only readily discernible sign of the damage inflicted by the storm.
Although bay St. Louis now is the county seat over which she rules, for the first 41 years the hub of government was elsewhere .
Hancock County was founded in 1812. Five years later, in 1817, the first courthouse was built at Center, which later became Caesar.
The county government remained there for 20 years—until the courthouse and county seat were moved to Gainesville in 1837.
Gainesville no longer exists, having fallen prey to progress when NASA acquired land for the Mississippi Test Facility. But due to its proximity to water transportation offered by the Pearl River, Gainesville was at that time a thriving community.
The county seat remained at Gainesville for more than 15 years. In 1853, the Gainesville courthouse burned, destroying most of the county's first 40 years of accumulated history.
Following the fire, the county seat was moved to Shieldsborough, by then beginning to show the effectB of expanding settlement of the coastal area.
By 1866, enough new county records had accumulated to require building another courthouse. This wooden structure, surrounded by a picket fence, stood on the same approximate location as the present building. It served for about 45 years, during which period Shieldsborough was renamed “Bay St. Louis," in honor of the bay upon whose banks it stood.
During these intervening yc-ars, Hancock County continued to grow. The 45-year-old building became no longer adequate.
In 1910, H. S. Weston was president of the board of supervisors, and S. J. Craft, J. E. Smith, T. J. McArthur and L. S. Bourgeois were "associate** members. A. J. Carver was sheriff, and E. H. Hoffman clerk. They set the wheels in motion for a new courthouse.
In July, plans submitted by Keenan & Weiss, New Orleans architects, were approved for building a new courthouse "not to exceed the sum of $25,000." The board advertised in the "Gulf Coast Progress" for construction bids.
Jett Bros. Contracting Co. of Alabama won the construction contract with a bid of $24,989, which included granite steps at $650. Perhaps abashed by this latter extravagance, the board eliminated the fire escapes called for in the plans, at a saving of $60.
Napoleon Caron was hired to move the old courthouse out of the way so construction could begin. His fee, to move the building and the clerk's vault 76 feet to the east side of the grounds, was $650. His agreement called for "retaining the same relationship between the various offices," keeping all doors and windows "in such a condition that they readily may be opened and closed," and making sure the building still was fully functional at its new location.
John Henry, an architect, was hired as construction superintendent, at two per cent of the cost. The contract with Jett Brothers was signed August 1, 1910, with contract time 8 months.
Actual starting date is uncertain, but first payment under the contract, $3,120 made October 4, indicates construction probably began September 1.
Although the courthouse was built from the general county fund without a special tax levy, thf supervisors on December 6, 1910, were forced to borrow $10,000 from the Hancock County Bank. They issued five warrants of $2,000 each, payable one each year for five years.
The new courthouse was formally accepted by the board September 20, 1911, a year and a mont.h after the original contract was signed.
John Henry was employed to move the safe and furnishings from the old building into the new, Jett Brothers was paid $50 for placing a marble cornerstone containing the names of county