The old Warren County Courthouse.Photo byNRHP Nomination Form.

The historic Warren County Courthouse and Circuit Court Building were two government buildings on Main Street in Warrenton, Missouri. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 17, 1972. The buildings have since been demolished. Generally, when this occurs, a building is delisted.

The two-story courthouse was built between 1869 and 1871. It had elements classified as Classical Revival architecture. The building had cast iron columns, rounded arch windows, and arched entrance doors. The building also had a cupola.

This old building was constructed on the old ashlar foundation of the original courthouse in the northeast part of the square. The ground floor housed the county court, offices of the probate judge, magistrate judge, county clerk, collector, assessor, treasurer, and county engineer.

The second story contained a circuit courtroom, jury room, and the prosecuting attorney's office. The wooden tin-sheathed cupola was above the center of the roof. The front entranceway consisted of three doorways with rounded arches.

About Warren County

The first settlement in Warren County was a French trading post established in 1804. By 1806, American homesteaders went to a post near Marthasville. The development of the area was affected by the extension of Boonslick Road through Montgomery County. When Warren County was organized, most people wanted a courthouse closer to the population center inside the township.

In January 1833, the Missouri Legislature removed the eastern portion of Montgomery County to be a separate and distinct county, and it was named Warren County after an American Revolutionary War hero, Joseph G. Warren. Warrenton was platted in 1835.

The first courthouse was established in a home until the courthouse building was constructed in 1839. In 1869, that building was razed and a larger one was constructed on its foundation. The newer building was completed in 1871. It was designed by St. Louis architect, William Brady.

The Circuit Court Building

The Circuit Court Building, Warrenton, Missouri.Photo byNRHP Nomination Form.

The two-story Circuit Court Building was built in 1866. It contained iron shutters. It was built after the Montgomery County seat at Danville was attacked during the Civil War. In 1864, the Danville raid was a plan by Missouri secessionists to destroy the civil government in Unionist counties in east central Missouri.

When the Danville Courthouse was destroyed, Warren County constructed a fireproof Circuit Court building to store deed records and other irreplaceable vital statistics. This was in case Warrenton came under attack.

The Circuit Court building was three years older than the courthouse. When the Warren County Courthouse and the Circuit Court building were nominated for the National Register, neither were in danger of being razed.

The Warren County Circuit Court building had a similar roof and was built with the same materials. In the entrance hallway, on one side was an office and reception area, and on the other side was a room containing Circuit Court records.

The only woodwork used in the Circuit Court building were its window sills and moldings because it was going to be completely fireproof.

In 1965, the County Court commissioned Mr, Gerhardt Kramer, FAIA, to study whether both buildings could be rehabilitated. Before Kramer's study, the court stated the court building was unsafe. The Warren County Court ordered four bond-issue elections to restore the courthouse as a community center, but the attempts failed.

If, however, the old courthouse could be included on the National Register, this could have encouraged the preservation of the building.

Below is the new Warren County Courthouse located at 104 West Main Street. It's a more modern building built in 1998. The Warren County Administrative Building is at 101 Mockingbird Lane.

The new Warren County Courthouse in Warrenton, Missouri.Photo byKbh3rd, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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