Saturday, August 17, 2013

The Chase County Courthouse in Cottonwood Falls (in the Flint Hills of Kansas)

The Chase County Courthouse is the oldest operating courthouse in Kansas.  I loved this place, inside and out.  Chase County, by the way, has a population of less than 3,000 people.  They don't even have their own judge.  


   Don't you just love the stairs?  Amazing!


This is the courtroom.


Here's where the jury sits.  Notice they have rails on which to rest their feet.  Behind where the judge sits, on the right, is a door leading to the jail.


It's hard to believe, but this jail was still used through the early 70's.  The only reason they stopped using it was that there was no fire exit.  If one had been added, this courthouse could not have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Nowadays, people who need to go to jail are taken to the next county.  


We were amazed at the primitive cells.  


Not much room in this cell!  




On the top floor, we were able to look down on the main street.  It isn't called Main Street because some guy didn't want it to go by that name.  However, I missed hearing what it IS called.  Hey, I had a full day of information overload.  Don't judge me.  


This is the view from the top.  Absolutely perfect!



If you are traveling through Kansas, get off the freeways and take the time to visit Cottonwood Falls.  You won't be sorry.

4 comments:

  1. That's a beautiful and interesting courthouse! My husband would have LOVED that stair system. I wish I could show it to him!

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  2. Looks interesting. What a GREAT place to visit. LOVE the photos of the cells.

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  3. I love old buildings like your courthouse and it's good to see that that one will be preserved as a historical building.

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  4. I've never heard of Cottonwood Falls but it seems like it would be a pleasant, quiet place to live.
    The courthouse is unique and I like the clock way up top.

    The jail cells look kind of creepy, but you looked nice in there (hey, that's supposed to be a compliment).

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