Reub's journey

27 March 2014

The courthouse

Friday Shoot-Out's assignment this week is to photograph the oldest building in your town. I'm not sure what that is for my town, so I went to the most obvious: the courthouse. Built in 1888, this is the oldest courthouse still used for its original purpose in Oregon.



Appearing on the city logo, it's an iconic image for Corvallis, a town of 50,000.




The 19th century architect described his design as "an Italian villa with a military influence." What was he thinking? There were so few Italians here, and almost no military at the time. Oh well, it is a pretty neat old building.




Here we go up the front steps.



And under the carved stone face that is just over the entrance.





As you step into the building the first thing you notice is how much wood there is.




There were no proceedings on the day I visited, so the benches were all empty.



My favorite room was this small chamber for the circuit court. These days the circuit court meets in a larger room and this one is used for jury deliberations. It also houses some cool old stuff.



I love this typewriter.



And these well-used chairs.


Time to head out. That white postal-style box that you see is a ballot box. Oregon has a mail-in voting system, but if you're a last-minute voter you must drop off your ballot to make the deadline.




And that, y'all, is our little courthouse.


For more pics of historic buildings in other parts of the world, go to Friday My Town Shoot-Out.

26 comments:

  1. I love the woodwork. It is a beautiful building.

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    1. I like the woodwork too. It appears to be all original.

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  2. it is a beauty! that first photo is perfect red-white-blue. :)

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    1. That's what I thought, too. Even the cars are red white and blue! Geesh.

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  3. It looks a little like ice cream! Only artists are really able to capture the soul of a building, which you have.

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    1. Ice cream! It does! Or perhaps a wedding cake. Gosh, now I have a craving...

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  4. It's a very majestic building! We have a similar building here that used to be a courthouse too, but it is now undergoing extensive renovations to turn in into another museum. I just can't wait for it to be ready.

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    1. Seems as though Singapore has done some amazing restoration work, Jama.

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  5. It's an impressive building, and you have given us a grand tour.

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    1. Probably the nicest way to visit a court house, eh? I can't say I want to be there on official business.

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  6. I love the views down the stairs and many of the other interesting perspectives. The building is beautifully done inside and out. Thanks for the look-see!

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    1. Gail there were some beautiful interior stair cases as well, but I already had too many shots for one post, so I didn't include them.

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  7. Wharton had their courthouse renovated, or rather, restored some years ago. I have yet to go in it. How odd that they put shutters on the top half of the windows instead of the bottom in that little room.

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    1. You should go look at it. An old Texas court house is probably full of interesting stuff. And yeah.. those shutters...kind of odd.

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  8. That typewriter brings back memories - my grandfather had one like it. It is a grand old building and it has been well preserved and cared for. All those all captain's chairs are antique too. I have that was passed down from one of my pioneers.

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    1. The antique typewriters are pretty neat. There's a little place in Portland that rebuilds and services them. a hipster thing I guess.

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  9. a building with a lot of character and stories to tell!

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    1. I thought about all of those stories as I walked around. All of the situations that start and end here.

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  10. How fortunate you are to have such a lovely old building still being used - and cared for. I love the last shot with the flag flying cheerfully above the ornate detail.

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    1. Yes, I'm glad the county didn't tear it down and build something boring and awful to take its place.

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  11. Now this was an interesting journey you lead me on. Loved it.

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    1. Some day I'll go back and wander upstairs-I didn't do that this time.

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  12. HUMMM I am not seeing much Italian, except the bust over the main door / which looks vaguely Scandinavian. . wonderful old building regardless. I love the photo of the room with two windows. I can almost smell the history in that one small space.

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    1. I wondered what the architect meant by that too. Maybe just that it's...white?

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  13. I've not been inside but I know right where it is! Wonderful shots.

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    1. Oooh Pauline, next time...next time...stop on by!

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