1901 – CONSTRUCTION BEGAN

Excavation and building work began immediately and the cornerstone was laid on November 21, 1901, in a daylong celebration that drew thousands of people.

The new courthouse exterior was blue Bedford stone, in the Richardsonian Romanesque Revival style of architecture. The walls were 12-inch concrete and solid brick masonry from the foundation to the roof line no wood was used. The floors were supported with steel beams and filled in between each beam with concrete fireproofing. The inside had 10,000 feet of marble, each office had its own fire-proof vault, and all furniture was made of white oak.

One of the features of the courthouse are the faces at the entry and on each corner of the front. The story that has been passed around for many years is that Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of the four presidents on Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, is the man who carved the faces. Part of the controversy is also that these faces had names of local people who lived in Hebron in the early 1900’s. The names supposedly attached to the faces were: Frenchie Samoisette, the courthouse yard keeper; Big Mary, widow of a man accused of murder and lynched, and who later operated a house where men could quench their thirst; Borglum himself, and a prominent Hebron businessman. The story is told that William Bauman from Hebron met Borglum on a train in the 1920’s and when Borglum learned that he was from Hebron, he told him that he had sculpted the courthouse faces and gave identity to each. While it is a believable story, no definite proof has ever been found, so this remains a mystery.

Finally, on April 10, 1903, the county officers moved into the new courthouse. Business affairs continued normally until the May 9, 1953 tornado.