HINTON, West Virginia – I won’t go into too much detail about the Summers County Courthouse’s history because I wrote a comprehensive article on September 23, 2023 that covered every aspect of it. But I recently discovered a previously unseen early photo of it with only four turrets.
John Kesler, the late Summers County Historian, gave me this photo a long time ago. I recall him telling me at the time how rare this photograph is because it only shows four of the six turrets. Also, because of the direction it was headed.
This photograph depicts the building with only four turrets added during the 1890s renovation and expansion project, which also added ornamentation to the structure. The two turrets on the back of the building were added during the 1925-1926 remodel and are consistent with Milburn’s early expansion of the courthouse. This photograph was taken sometime between the two expansions.
Notice in this photo that both turrets are the same size. I was initially perplexed because the building on the left side is noticeably taller when viewed from the front. And the metalwork at the top of the gothic-style roof is slightly taller than the others.
A portion of this pinnacle can be seen at the back of the right side, directly beside one of the original chimneys. The most intriguing aspect of this photograph to me is that both the front and back of the building had what served as a “main door” at the time. Both had the fancy white frieze with black lettering that reads “Summers County Courthouse,” just like it does now above the main entrance to the facility.
The large grassy area shown with a horse inside the lot is where the 1940-1941 addition, also known as the third expansion, was added to the building. This area also houses the Memorial Building, which is now part of a larger complex. This allowed for the addition of an elevator to the courthouse while preserving the building’s historic integrity. “Until next week.”
