Johnson County Courthouse - Warrensburg, Missouri
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 38° 45.910 W 093° 44.437
15S E 435656 N 4290977
County courthouse located in Warrensburg, Missouri
Waymark Code: WM1JHR
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 05/20/2007
Views: 223
This building is the third courthouse for Johnson County. The first built
between 1838 and 1842 remains standing and also listed on the National Register
and is part of the county Historical Society museum complex. The second was
located at the same site as the current courthouse and was a small frame
building built in 1867. Many residents were not happy with the small frame
building serving as the courthouse. In 1894, according to legend, a group of
young men took a cannon from the courthouse lawn, filled it with gunpowder,
pieces of iron and iron chains and fired it at the building. The building was
nearly completely destroyed by the blast and the new courthouse building was
completed three years later.
The Johnson County Courthouse was completed in 1898 and is constructed of
locally quarried limestone. The courthouse is the oldest of Missouri the four
Missouri courthouses designed by Omaha architect George E. McDonald. The
courthouse is in a Richardsonian Romanesque style, as shown by its massive,
rough-textured stone exterior and round arch entrances and window. The building
was constructed for $50,585. The statue on top of the building is Minerva also
known as the Goddess of Wisdom. The building remains the center of government
for Johnson County however the courts have recently relocated to building across
the street..
Located on the grounds of the courthouse is the Old Drum Memorial with the
"Eulogy to the Dog".