Livingston County Courthouse - Smithfield, Kentucky - Kentucky Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

This marker was published by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet with the help of the Ohio Valley Civil War Heritage Trail. The text of the marker is as follows: (left side of marker)

When Crittenden County was separated from Livings-
ton County in 1842 the county seat for Livingston
County was moved to Smithland from Salem. Planning
and construction for this courthouse began that same
year. The county court appointed a five member com-
mission to plan the building and let the contract. The
commissioners were David Fort, L. W. Alcorn, Blount
Hodge, William Gordon, and Isaac Shelby, none of
whom were serving on the court. The original plan was
for a building 50 feet by 40 feet with a foundation of
"good large stones" below ground and dressed lime-
stone above. The building's walls were to be of "good
mercantile brick," two bricks, or 18 inches, thick. The
first floor was sixteen feet high, the second twelve.
There were five fireplaces and flues and cedar shingles.
It was a large and imposing building for its time. While
the courthouse was under construction the various
county courts met in local churches, the Gower House,
and the Dallum Bush House. The first court session was
held in the courthouse in October 1844 before the struct-
ure was completed. Construction was completed nearly a year later in August 1845. By
1852 the prosperity and growth of the county created a need for a separate building to
house the circuit court and the county clerks' offices and records. During the depression of the
1930's there were plans for a new courthouse that never came to fruition. In 1935 one of the
last legal hangings in Kentucky took place in the courtyard behind the courthouse. During
World War II an iron fence that had been erected around the public square in the 1850's was
donated to a scrap metal drive. In the 1960's four rooms were added, two on each floor, as
well as gas heat and air conditioning. The courthouse has served as a community center
and a focal point throughout its long history.

(center of marker)

(picture of Ulysses S Grant)
Union General Ulysses Simpson
Grant order Union Troops to
occupy Smithland early in
September 1861
(right side of marker)
When large numbers of Federal forces occupied Smithland, the courthouse was used by
Union officers as a headquarters building and for other purposes at various times during the
occupation of Smithland from September 1861 to July 1865. During the War years
various local courts were held in private residences and the court clerks' office building. As
one of the few courthouses in far western Kentucky not burned during the Civil War or
destroyed by fire at another time, it remains a visible and tangible link to an earlier period in
the history of the region when the towns along the rivers were the centers of trade and commerce.

The Livingston County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

(picture of map)
Map of Smithland and the surrounding area from The Official Military Atlas of the Civil War.

Marker Name: Livingston County Courthouse Marker Location: City Type of Marker: Building Marker Number (for official markers): -blank- Group(s) Responsible for placing Marker: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Ohio Valley Civil War Heritage Trail

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