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THUMBNAIL HISTORY, HANCOCK COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Hancock County was established in 1812. Five years later, in 1817, the first courthouse was built at Center, which later became Caesar. The county government remained there for twenty years—until .the courthouse and county seat were moved to Gainesville in 1837.
The county seat remained at Gainesville for more than 15 years. When, in 1853, the Gainesville courthouse burned, the county seat was moved to Shieldsborough.
In 1866, a wooden courthouse was built at Shieldsborough, now Bay St. Louis This served for about 45 years.
In 1910, H. S. Weston was president of the board of supervisors, and S. J. Craft, J. E. Smith, T. J. McArthur and L. C. Bourgeois were "associate members." A. J. Carver was sheriff, and E. H. Hoffman clerk.
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." Jett Bros..Contracting Co. of Alabama won the contract for construction with a bid of $24,989, which included granite steps at $650. However, before construction started, the plans were changed to eliminate the fire escapes, at a saving of $60
Napoleon•Caron was low bidder for moving the old courthouse out of the way. His bid, to move the building and vault 76 feet to the east side of the grounds, was $650.
John Henry, only applicant for the job, was hired as construction superintendent with compensation set 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,	for	$3,120,
was made October 4, 1910.
Although the courthouse was built from the general county fund, the supervisors on Dec. 6, 1910, borrowed $10,000 from Hancock Bank. They issued five warrants of $2,000 each, payable one each year for five	years.
The courthouse was formally accepted by	the board	September	20,	1911.
John Henry was employed to move the safe and furniture from the old building into the new, Jett Brothers was paid $50 for placing a marble cornerstone containing the names of the supervisors, and Alonzo B. Hayden provided "sundry articles for the toilet rooms" for $28.
Napoleon Caron bought the old courthouse at auction for $150, and the pickets and posts from the fence around the courthouse grounds were sold to J. E. Saucier for $5.
To complete the transition, the following were purchased for court and jury
roorps:
Three dozen chairs, four dozen cuspidors, two dozen sheets, and a dozen each of single beds, mattresses, pillows and blankets.
Compiled by Jim Pfeiffer and Terry Guenard