Grays Harbor County Courthouse - Montesano, Washington - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

The GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY COURTHOUSE, at First and Broad Sts., a sandstone-faced building with coppered dome, dominates the town and the wide valley to the south. When the lumbering industry was rich and location of timber property netted heavy tax returns for Grays Harbor County, the citizens built the courthouse, one of the outstanding county structures in the State. It was designed by the late Watson Vernon, Aberdeen architect. Among the murals decorating the interior is one by F. Rohrbeck, a Milwaukee artist, depicting the discovery of Grays Harbor by Captain Gray on May 7, 1792. Flanking it are panels of timber and mill scenes by F. Biderstein. Another Rohrbeck mural Governor Stevens Treaty with the Indians, February 25, 1855, is also flanked by panels done by Biderstein.

The courthouse was the scene of the trials in the "Centralia Massacre" case between January 26 and March 12, 1930 (see Labor). -Washington: A Guide to the Evergreen State, 1941

The Grays Harbor County Courthouse looks much as it would have in 1911. Following damage by an earthquake in 1999 a restoration project was completed over the course of two years at a cost of $7.5 million.

Click a photo to enlarge