The marker is in front of the courthouse and jail, points out some historic events that took place…read more
It reads, "Courthouse erected 1888-89 by McDonald Bros.; later renovated 1932-33. Here was scene of Hatfield clan trials for murders of Tolbert, Randolph, Jr., Pharmer, Alifair, and Calvin McCoy. The defendants lodged in adjacent jail; found guilty and sentenced to life in prison except Ellison Mounts, hanged February 18, 1890. Courthouse and jail part of Hatfield-McCoy Feud Historic Dist."
It is marker number 1866 and it was erected in 1990 by the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Department of Highways.
The McDonald Brothers of Louisville designed the courthouse in a restrained Classical Revival style, using buff brick, a symmetrical front, and a prominent square tower on the west side that carried a clock and a small cupola. The 1932 to 1933 renovation, which the marker mentions only briefly, was a substantial architectural intervention. The project added new space, updated the structure, and altered some of the exterior massing, but it preserved the tower and the essential Classical Revival character. That renovation also helped the building remain in active use well into the twentieth century, even after Pikeville built newer judicial facilities nearby.
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