The Los Angeles County Courthouse, 1860-1861

After some seven years in the Rocha Adobe, during which the editorials of 1856 and 1859 decrying the condition of the building were penned, the Los Angeles County Courthouse became the subject of further criticism in 1860.

An article in the 25 February edition of the Los Angeles Star, for example, pointed out that

at the assembling of the County Court yesterday, it was moved by J.R. Scott, Esq. and concurred in by the District Attorney (Edward J.C. Kewen) and other members of the bar, that the Court adjourn, for the reason that the building occupied as the court room is so wholly out of repairs to render it not only unsafe, but exceedingly dangerous, to continue the session therein.

The county Board of Supervisors had, at its meeting on the 9th, appointed a committee of Gabriel Allen, Antonio Franco Coronel and Casildo Aguilar to work with Sheriff Tomás Sánchez to find other quarters.  The urgency became more market, however, when the Star observed that

a part of the roof has fallen in, and the timbers the support the balance of the roof are so worm-eaten that Judge Scott [who was 6 feet 4 inches tall, making him, like Abraham Lincoln, who was the same height, a veritable giant at the time], in illustration of the insecurity of the room, crushed a large handful of them as if they were straw.

Given this, the paper sanguinely suggested that, "it is high time that something was done to secure a decent place for the meeting of the Courts."

The 25 February 1860 issue of the Los Angeles Star contained this short article noting the deplorable condition of the Rocha Adobe as the county court house, including the fact that attorney Jonathan R. Scott, who was a toweing 6'4", could crush ceiling timbers with his hand because of termite damage!

A few weeks later, on 10 March, the latest report of the county Grand Jury was published in the Star, including the admonition that the court house and offices for the sheriff and county clerk

is wholly unsuitable for that purpose.  In fact, the old adobe walls, almost roofless . . . are so completely dilapidated as to render them not only insecure for such purposes, but exceedingly dangerous.

Consequently, by court order, the paper went on

the Sheriff has fitted up a brick building on Main street, which promises to answer the temporary purposes of a court room and offices of the Court.  This arrangement, however, can only be temporary, and is necessarily attended with considerable expense, and inasumuch as a Court House is essential to the administration of the law and the requirements of justice . . . the construction of a suitable building for the purpose would be in accordance with the true principle of economy.

The Grand Jury suggested yet another statute from the state legislature authorizing a ballot measure for a tax levy for $25-30,000 for the building of a new courthouse.  Of course, the previous attempts in 1858 and 1859 for voter approval led to defeats--the latter was particularly overwhelming in the negative with the Board of Supervisors reporting a different result than the papers: 1,766 against and only 162 in favor.

Still, the new home was deemed superior than the Rocha Adobe as the Star observed: "the new court house prepared by the Sheriff, in the Nichols building, has been used since the middle of the week by the Court of Sessions, and gives much satisfaction."  The paper lamented the fact the "the county has not had these improvements placed upon its own property" at the Rocha Adobe.

In fact, the next session of the Grand Jury in early July, according to the 14 July issue of the Star "would strenuously recommend that some means be devised to repair the same, so that it can again be occupied, and thereby save the county the burden of paying rent on other property."

The new quarters consisted of a one-story brick structure erected by former mayor John G. Nichols, who was the subject of a criminal case earlier in the 1850s concerning his alleged profiteering from the use of prisoners for public labor.  Nichols' structure was on the west side of Main Street between Temple and First.  In August 1860, the Board of Supervisors authorized payment to Nichols of $750 for six months' rent on the building.

This excerpt of a Los Angeles County Grand Jury report, printed in the Star's 24 November 1860 edition, called for the building of a new courthouse or "judicious repairs upon the old one" at the Rocha Adobe, which was still owned by the county and being used as a police station house.

In November, however, the Grand Jury had more criticism concerning the leasing of court house facilities in its latest report.  In the 24 November issue of the Star, the jury reported, "the large amount now paid as rent for bulidings for county purposes is suggestive of the necesity of preventing, as soon as possible, this heavy outlay and demand upon our already exhausted treasury."  Deeming the Nichols Building to be "indifferently suited for the purposes required," the jury suggested "the propriety of taking proper steps for the building of a new Court House or the making of judicious repairs upon the old one."  It also stated that it was "urgently necessary for the proper preservation . . . of the county files and records" to secure new furniture for the county clerk.

However, the arrangement to rent the Nichols Building continued until May 1861 when another location, virtually next door, was found for lease.  This will be the subject of the next post.