BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – Jefferson County Commissioner John “Jack” Matson is proud of the courthouse near his office on Main Street in Brookville, but he wishes that the lower entrance was not the first thing a person sees when entering.
“I understand why,” Matson said. “You need a single entry, and this was the best one for metal detectors. I understand the security, but I wish that the first impression people had of the courthouse was the great hall outside the courtroom.”
If one has some business with the courthouse, there is a single entrance below the sweeping staircases at the front of the building. Those staircases are currently roped off due to the minor renovations, but Matson said the landing at the top works as a great stage to address the community. Inside, a visitor has to pass through metal detectors before seeing the Sheriff’s Office and the Office of Assessment and Tax Claim.
“The Sheriff has always been in this location,” Matson said. “It expanded, it used to be in one set of rooms, but it’s always been here.”
Most of Jefferson County’s government offices were in the courthouse at one time in history. Now, the offices are spread out between the courthouse and the Jefferson Place down Main Street. In the courthouse, probation, geographic information services, the district attorney, prothonotary, public defender, register and recorder, and the previously-mentioned sheriff and assessment.
The marble walls of the courthouse have a unique feature. Since they were cut from the same stone, an imperfection in one slab will repeat on others. This pattern continues except for one panel, which has the imperfection missing. Matson theorizes that the panel was replaced.
Where Matson wishes people could enter is less in the bowels of the building and more at its heart. The hallway outside the courtroom, marble and echoing, with a bust of Thomas Jefferson, evoke a sense of awe that Matson feels is important in the courthouse.
“You are coming to deal with the government of this country,” he said. “The government is powerful. The structure should be imposing to remind people of the weight of the decisions made in the courthouse.”
The courtroom has its history on the walls and worn into the seats. Portraits of past judges hang around the courtroom. Matson said that the seating is often sparsely populated during trials, but when Jefferson County had its reputation as a hanging county — hanging more people after 1900 than before — the courthouse would be packed.
The judge’s chambers, however, are a private inner sanctum that are not often viewed. Matson made sure he was able to go inside before entering the comfortable room just behind the courtroom. Inside, deer and other animals peer down at the desk and fireplace. Books and pictures line the walls. The personality of the judge seems to wrap around the room.
The courthouse houses many essential services. Matson pointed to the old court records stored in bound books. Handwritten notes give way to printed notes, and eventually more modern methods. Even so, the records going back centuries, fill the rooms below a spiral staircase.
As the 150th Anniversary approaches, Matson is thankful for renovations being done around the courthouse, inside and outside.
“It has a lot of history, and I’m glad they’re working on it to make it look nice for the celebration.”
This is the latest article in a multi-part series celebrating the Jefferson County Courthouse’s 150th anniversary. Check back later for additional articles.
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