Pulaski County was named for a Polish general of the Revolutionary War, who was killed in the seige of Savannah, Georgia in 1779.
The building that has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places is actually the third of the Pulaski County Courthouses that were built, two of them in Waynesville. And the current Pulaski County is actually the 2nd county that has held that name; the first “Pulaski County” was organized in 1818, was not located in the same area of Missouri as the current Pulaski County, and did not survive. The second Pulaski County was organized January 19, 1833, survived many boundary adjustments, and finally resulted in the boundaries currently claimed by present-day Pulaski County, which have not changed since 1859.
The first courts in Pulaski county were held in homes, until 1839 when commissioners were appointed with the task of selecting a location for a designated courthouse building. The commissioners had accepted a temporary building by 1840, a hewn-log structure. The county seat moved to Waynesville in February 1843, using a two-story brick courthouse with a 40x28 foundation and stood 22 feet high, a project built by contractor Allen Hamor. This courthouse consisted of three rooms and two halls on the ground floor, with two entry doors. This structure survived some direct damage from the Civil War, (the courthouse was used as a hospital by the Union troops during the war) continuing in service until 1872 when it was declared unsafe to use for court, and unfit for storing records.
Money was raised for a replacement courthouse, using a combination of county-issued bonds and money received from the war damages, and with a total of about $10,000, construction of a new two-story brick courthouse began on top of part of the foundation from the prior courthouse, in 1872-73. The new courthouse was larger, with a foundation measuing 60x40, and 22 feet high. The construction superintendent was listed as W. C. Kerr. Only one photo of this courthouse is known to exist, and it shows the courthouse after it was struck by lightening and destroyed by the resulting fire on June 13, 1903, when only the walls were left standing. The County Clerk was able to save the records from the fire.
The county was not without a courthouse for long, as the Pulaski County Court hired architect Henry H. Hohnschild to draw plans for a replacement, on July 3, 1903, using a conservative budget. Hohenschild was a Democratic State Senator under Governor Lon Vest Stephens (1896-1900) and was also the State Architect at that time. He also designed courthouses for other counties including Pike (1917-19, Bowling Green), Scott (1912-13, Benton), Washington (1907-08 in Potosi), and Pemiscot (1924, in Caruthersville).
Two men from Rolla, (building contractor Ed Long and builder William Mitchell) were hired and construction began in September 1903, completed in March 1904, within the budgeted $10,240 alotted for the project, which was again made of brick, 60x40, and features exposed beams in the courtroom ceiling.
The courthouse is constructed in Romanesqee Revival style with Italiante detailing, of red brick on a foundation of native limestone. The inteiror boasts an original stromboli fan with wooden blades on the ground floor, the original stairway spindle balustrade that leads to the courthouse on the 2nd floor, and the main feature of the floor is the English oak celing of exposed rafters and joists in the courtroom which was saved with the help of the Pulaski County Historical Society in the 1970's during a remodel.
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