The current status of this former courthouse is that is was purchased in 2014 by a local citizen for $10,000 to prevent it from being demolished as county surplus. This building is in terrible need of repairs, inside and out, and new owner, Steve Jansen, plans on slowly tackling the task of doing the repairs himself and potentially leasing out the building as office space down the road. Prior to Jansen's purchase of the building and historic former jail behind the courthouse, the old former courthouse was home to the OSU Extension Office downstairs and the Jefferson County Historical Society upstairs.
Eagan seeks courthouse preservation
Jodi Eagan, farmer, writer, and former county commissioner, is on a mission. She wants to save the old Jefferson County Courthouse, and if necessary, she'll do it alone.
The old brick building, built in 1917 on the corner of D and Sixth streets, is crumbling in places, and in desperate need of expensive repairs.
In order to ensure that those repairs are made, Eagan has begun working to get the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. If she can achieve that, it will be eligible for a variety of rehabilitation grants.
Eagan, a member of the Jefferson County Historical Society, has the support of that organization in her efforts, but is pursuing the project on her own.
The Historical Society is busy with other projects, she pointed out. "The board is so involved in other matters -- developing plans for a new building and trying to preserve and identify all artifacts -- that they don't have time," she said.
The museum is currently housed on the upper floor of the old courthouse, but the Historical Society has plans to build a much larger facility, possibly at the fairgrounds.
About five years ago, as the Historical Society began making plans for its future growth, Eagan said that members determined that the building needed too many repairs, and was not large enough to accommodate the county's historical relics.
"We were told it was crumbling," Eagan recalled. "A company said it should be condemned," she said, adding that she did not want to see the building condemned and abandoned.
The old courthouse is important to Eagan for several reasons. "First," she said, "history matters. The building matters. It's one of the few buildings in the business section that is still original."
"While they're redesigning downtown Madras with urban renewal, the old buildings should be preserved because they would enhance the change," she said.
The second reason Eagan cited is a personal connection to the building. "My dad (Louis Olson) was a county commissioner for three or four terms," she said, noting that the commissioners' office was upstairs, where the museum is now located. She remembered that she "popped in and out" to see her dad while she was in high school.
The final reason Eagan wants to see the building fixed up ties back to her involvement with the Historical Society. "Intermittently, between the construction of a new museum, and our presence in the old courthouse, we need a place to be," she said, indicating the courthouse needs repairs to maintain its current uses.
Courthouse History
Although the old courthouse housed county offices from the very beginning, it was built by the city of Madras as a city hall.
The Aug. 23, 1917 Madras Pioneer noted, "County officials have been busy this week moving their offices and fixtures and the county records, etc., into the new Madras City Hall, which will be their future home."
The article continued, "Contractor Guy Wilson has completed all but a few of the minor details of the splendid new building and the county officials now have an excellent new building, thoroughly modern, with commodious office rooms."
The building housed the county school superintendent, assessor, library, sheriff's office, surveyor, treasurer, and clerk, all on the first floor. On the second floor, there was a Circuit Court room, jury room, district attorney's office, county judge's office, and city recorder's office.
Before moving into the City Hall, county offices had been scattered around town since Jan. 1, 1917, when a party of about 85 people, including county officials, their supporters, and Madras residents, had driven to Culver to pack up county offices and move the county seat from Culver to Madras.
The county seat had been temporarily located in Culver since 1914, when Jefferson County separated from Crook County. In early November of 1916, residents of the new county voted on whether the seat should remain in Culver, or be moved to Madras. There were 839 votes for removal to Madras, and 514 against removal.
The district attorney at the time of the election, W.P. Myers, filed an injunction suit to prevent the removal, but Circuit Court Judge T.E.J. Duffy dismissed the suit on Dec. 28, 1916, and cleared the way for the removal of the county seat to Madras.
Elaine Henderson, a retired county clerk, researched minutes from County Commission meetings in 1917, and found records indicating that the county agreed to pay for lights and the construction of restrooms in the basement of the City Hall in November of 1917. The city and county also agreed to build a jail -- the small, primitive, concrete facility now located on the northeast corner of the property.
On Oct. 10, 1925, the county purchased the building from the city for $6,000, Henderson noted, and it became the county courthouse until the current courthouse was completed in 1961.
Preservation Efforts
By chance, when Eagan was teaching a history class for Central Oregon Community College's adult education, Pat Kliewer, associate planner for the Deschutes County Community Development Department, took the class.
Eagan and Kliewer started talking about the preservation of old buildings, and the subject of the old courthouse came up. "She said, `You should do this. If you wait too long, it will be too late,'" Eagan said.
Kliewer and Derek Stevens of the Deschutes County Planning Department visited the old courthouse and encouraged Eagan to try to get the building listed on the National Register.
"The building itself is in remarkably good condition, given its age and lack of maintenance," said Stevens.
Nevertheless, the building is not without problems. "The east side is crumbling," he said, adding that he has seen a lot worse. "The brickwork has no signs of separation, but the windows need a lot of work."
"In my opinion," he said, "it would be eligible for registration on the National Registry."
Last month, Eagan, Kliewer and Stevens went before the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners to ask for the commission's support for Eagan's efforts.
"The old courthouse is one of the few old buildings in town," said Jefferson County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bill Bellamy. "One of the County Commission's challenges in the next few years is to figure out a way to save it."
Bellamy said he was pleased to see Eagan spearheading the push to find funding to preserve the building. "Jodi has some real special interest," he said. "She just might find something. She's done it before."
The commission unanimously voted to authorize Eagan to start the process of getting the old courthouse named to the National Register.
The Process
The National Register of Historic Places recognizes historic properties that: are associated with significant historic events; are associated with the lives of persons significant in the past; embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction; or yield important historical information.
"I'm getting ready to do a map that locates the exact site, inside and out, and the old jail, and then I'll be ready to write the application," said Eagan, who has been writing grant applications for the past 30 years.
In order for the project to move forward this year, she needs to turn the application in to the state review board by June. The review board looks over all nominations, and make a recommendation to the state's historic preservation officer, who approves the nomination if it meets National Register criteria.
If it is approved, the historic preservation officer forwards the application to the National Park Service, which considers properties for listing on the National Register.
The primary advantage in getting a property listed, according to Kliewer, whose department has done several hundred applications in the last few years, is the money.
"A publicly-owned building on the National Registry is eligible for money from the National Park Service," she said, adding that grants range from $25,000 to $2 million.
State lottery money is also used for historic preservation grants, she said, provided the properties are listed on the National Register.
Building and Grounds Department Director Dana Lundy hopes Eagan is successful in getting the old courthouse named to the National Register of Historic Places, and securing funds for renovation.
"There's a lot of structural work that needs to be done on it. The foundation is in really poor shape," said Lundy. "A grant would help bring it back to its original condition. We're not qualified and don't have the money to fix that building the way it needs to be fixed."