Salem celebrates 155th anniversary of Dent County Courthouse

Gray Wood said the COVID-19 pandemic meant there was no chance to celebrate the courthouse’s sesquicentennial in 2020, so the historical society opted to mark its 155th birthday instead.

“It’s really an awesome building, and its hard to even express,” Gray Wood said. “I’ve traveled a little bit, to Europe and Egypt, to see all of their old buildings. Well, we’ve got one of those right here in Dent County.”

Donn James of James & Gahr Mortuary was among those on the courthouse square Saturday.

“This should be done, this is a good thing,” James said. “Anytime you have good heritage like what we have with this program its always good for the community. Everybody gets together, says hello. I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

James spent several hours Saturday welcoming courthouse visitors to take photos in front of James & Gahr’s decorative horse-drawn hearse. He saw the friendly crowd was evidence of what makes Dent County unique.

“We’ve been in business here since 1972, we just like the country better,” James said. “We were up in St. Louis yesterday, it’s a lot different, Dent County people and St. Louis people. St. Louis people won’t hardly speak to you. Dent County people will speak to you all day.”

Ozark writer and historian Rick Mansfield helped put the courthouse into historical perspective on Saturday by personifying 19th century explorer Henry Rowe Schoolcraft.

“It makes me proud the people through tax dollars, donations and pride have kept this building with us because that’s living history,” Mansfield said. “I’ve heard the phrase a lot ‘If that structure could talk.’ Well, it does. It talks in every deed that’s recorded within its structure, every marriage that’s been done, and every court case. It speaks volumes. I’m moved every time I walk in and out of that building or walk in its presenc

The Dent County Courthouse’s official history was written by Margeret June Vickery for the building’s centennial celebration in 1970. Her research was cited for the courthouse’s admission to the National Register of Historic Places.

Vickery writes the first building to serve as a courthouse for Dent County in the 1850s was a log house on the Wingfield farm northeast of Salem. Not long after, a new courthouse was built in Salem south of where the current courthouse sits. It was burned during the Civil War by confederate sympathizers. The next courthouse was built in 1864 but likewise fell victim to fire in May 1866.

The Randolph Brothers of St. Louis designed the courthouse in the Second Empire Architectural Style, which is also sometimes called the “General Grant Style” for its use for public buildings during the Grant administration. The style’s most notable feature is its decorative mansard roof. A.E. Dye came to Salem to build the courthouse. He enjoyed the community so much he made Dent County his home and built several other local buildings.