Some time ago, I posted about the Marshall County Courthouse in Marshalltown, Iowa. We visited during the winter, and the clock tower was closed for the season. So, during the summer of 2015, we called the county Board of Supervisors, and Lisa Gassman kindly agreed to give us a tour.
Courthouses that allow visitors to climb the stairs up to the clock tower are few and far between, so we were especially grateful for this opportunity.
There were a lot of stairs to climb, and we relished the view from each level of the building. Gassman is an excellent docent, and she told us all about the building's history.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Marshall County Courthouse in Marshalltown, Iowa, was built between 1884 and 1886 on land given to the county by the town's founder, Henry Anson, with the provision that a courthouse costing at least $100,000 would be built. Construction costs totalled just short of $150,000. A statue of Anson stands outside the courthouse. The courthouse roof also features three statues, one of which is Lady Justice.
The courtroom features a beautiful high ceiling. The woodwork, the upholstery on the old jurors' seats, and even the door-hinges are carefully detailed.
Marshall County was named in honor of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. I thoroughly enjoyed my tour of the courthouse and would rank the building among the more beautiful courthouses in the state.
Amazing to me how much stuff like that costs. Yikes. Very cool that they had the stairs for you to travel up.
ReplyDeleteI was glad they let us tour the clock tower.
DeleteYou have found another wonderful place to visit - very cool! I like the pic of you too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mari!
DeleteThat was a great opportunity! Reminds me of "Ask, and you shall receive"
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the tour.
DeleteWhat a lovely opportunity, Bethany! And you look beautiful and deep in thought in your photo. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome courthouse! That's wonderful you were able to get a tour of the clock tower.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
DeleteWhat an awesome visit and I like seeing you in the tour!!
ReplyDeleteOh, how neat! And, I loved the picture of you. Thanks for including that. God bless you, sweet friend. :)
ReplyDeleteGod bless you too!
DeleteOh, lucky you! That is great that you got a chance to tour. I bet you took lots of photos :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a beautiful building this court. I like very much the picture of the fassade you posted before. This court should have an interesting History behind it. I'm glad that this time you could visit the clock tower and have a view outside the building.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the tour.
DeleteThat's fascinating! I've never been in a clock tower before. Thanks for taking us along!
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining in the trip!
DeleteI'm glad that you got to see the clock tower this time around. Have you ever been to a court case? I went once as part of a school field trip in high school. I thought it was going to be exciting as the ones on tv but it was fairly bland.
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't. I'd like to be called up for jury duty some day just to see what it's like, but I suppose I could just stop in as a spectator some time.
DeleteWhat a cool clock tower and the court house is lovely. I'm glad you were able to revisit them.
ReplyDeleteSame here!
DeleteIt is exciting and interesting to climb into a tower...my climb into the steeple of and the view from a church in MA when I was sixteen is still a vivid memory 50 years later! Thanks for sharing your adventure, Bethany.
ReplyDeleteClimbing into a steeple sounds like an exciting trip!
Deletewhat an interesting courthouse!
ReplyDeletethe photo of the stairs looks so mysterious...also great to see you in a pic! :))
hope you are doing well, sweet bethany!
be blessed!
Thanks Ashley. You too!
DeleteAnother stairs workout and cool tour!
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
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