1892 Jail and 1898 Court House

This view looking East down 8th Avenue at about Park Street shows the 1892 Lane County Jail and across Oak the grand Court House of 1898. Both structures where razed 1958-1959 for the current bland and dated mid-century structure that now stands at this site.

Old Lane County Courthouse circa 1940

Here is a view toward the North East of the Old Lane County Courthouse. The Spanish American War Memorial Fountain can be seen still intact on the corner (It can be seen today minus its wrought iron lantern at the Pioneer Museum) amid the lushly landscaped grounds. The structure, built in 1898 was nearly identical to the Polk County Court House (which incidentally still stands, beautifully preserved and still in use in Dallas Oregon) and was demolished in the late 1950's. Why any one person, let alone a group of County administrators would decide to raze this beautiful building is an astounding mystery. Even if the building had been out grown it could have been modified for use as the City Hall or even the Lane County Pioneer Museum. A small sample of the gorgeous interior woodwork, namely the grand staircase and the courtroom interior can be viewed in the collection of the Pioneer Museum.

Lane County Courthouse circa 1962

This view of the then new Lane County courthouse was taken from the park blocks looking N.E. Notice this was before the large 1970's addition to the south of the building as the "quansite" awning was still in place. Also notice all the old beat up cars parked downtown!