Way Back Wednesday in Calhoun County---April 18-24

When most Calhoun Countians mention going to “The Courthouse” they are referring to the Early 20th Century building located on West 11th Street. The Calhoun County Courthouse has stood on the corner of 11th Street and Gurnee Avenue since the early 1900s; but, this is not the original courthouse. To understand how the building on 11th Street came into existence, we have to go back in time to the earliest days of the county and the city of Drayton.

Calhoun County was established in 1832 and a log-frame courthouse was built on the public square in the town of Drayton. By 1833, the name of the town changed to Jacksonville and a county tax a few years later allowed for funds to replace the log-frame building with a brick structure. In the 1880s, a modern courthouse building was constructed on the east side of the square.

The courthouse would most likely have remained at Jacksonville, but the arrival of Samuel Noble and Daniel Tyler in 1872 changed the landscape of Calhoun County. Noble and Tyler founded their Woodstock Iron Company just to the south of Jacksonville in an area known as Pine Ankle. This was a company town that centered around the iron company and later a textile mill. In 1883, Noble and Tyler opened their town to the public and named it Anniston. This new town experienced a population and building boom during the late 1800s. By 1899, the city had become the largest in Calhoun County.

The Alabama State Legislature passed a bill to hold an election in 1899 to select the location of the Calhoun County seat. This was a contentious election and it took some time to settle. Since a large section of the population was illiterate, the ballots were printed on colored paper. When the election result was read, Anniston was in the lead by 1600 votes. The election results were not certified until a few days after the election. But this was not the end of the election. A court order was issued to declare the legislative bill unconstitutional. Eventually, the case made it to the Alabama Supreme Court which turned down the case in June 1899.

As result, the courthouse offices immediately vacated the Jacksonville courthouse and moved to temporary quarters at the Anniston City Land Building until the new Anniston courthouse was completed. The courthouse cornerstone was laid in November 1900 and the building was completed the next year. As time passed, more space was needed to house the county offices so an annex to hold the probation offices and jail was added in 1924.

In the 1930s the courthouse burned and the cupola was destroyed. The damage was repaired and a clock tower replaced the cupola. By the 1960s, a modern structure was added to the southwest corner. The building was remodeled in the 1990s and is the complex of buildings sitting on the corner at 11th Street.