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HANCOCK COUNTY
Court House, Hancock County. Burned 1 Apr 1853.
Moved to Bay St. Louis in 1860. (BSL 100 Yrs pg 17).
Court House, Hancock County.
THE COURTHOUSE c
of Hancock is a large two story frame building 50x70, which was erected in 1874, at a cost of $6,000. The court, jury and consultation rooms are upstairs, while the offices are on the ground floor, and these are supplied with fire-proof vaults and all-steel safes, thus rendering the county's records absolutely secure., There is in the same yard a brick jail, fitted with steel cells, and the peculiar fence with which it is enclosed makes it almost impossible for a prisoner to escape. The courthouse is manned by a good and careful set of officers, none of whom are more painstaking and competent than Jas. F. Cozenenvee (Cazeneuve), the . sheriff and tax collector of p r. nu nj-y. (SCE 05/20/1893) County Court House, "New" in(l8 9 4 photo^) (ATG pBSL-4) Thumbnell 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 Shieldsboro.
In 1866, a wooden courthouse was built at Shieldsboro, 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, L. C. Bourgeois were "associate members". A. J. Carver was sheriff, and E. H. Hoffman was clerk.
^ In July, plans submitted by Kennan & 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, for $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 Bros 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.