The second Forsyth County Courthouse was completed in January 1897 and was financed by issuing 110 bonds of $500 each, payable in 5, 10, and 15 years to raise $55,000. The building took ten months to construct and was made of granite, buff brick, and brownstone.
The county commissioners, headed by Mumford D. Bailey, hired architect Frank P. Milburn to design the courthouse.
Milburn was well-known for his elaborate designs, and had designed the First Baptist Church at Church and Second Streets as well as the Southern Railroad passenger station on Chestnut Street.
The courthouse was called everything from a Russian cathedral to “Bailey’s Castle.” The commissioners wanted a big town look for the growing town of Winston. And, after all, the courthouse square was in the center of town activities.
It was a meeting place for folk who wanted to get together downtown.
It was the site for summertime band concerts, usually held in the north yard, just off West Fourth Street.
Patriotic celebrations, such as Civil War veteran parades, took place around courthouse square.
On October 3, 1905, the Confederate Monument was unveiled. It was a gift of the local Daughters of the Confederacy, James S. Gordon Chapter. Over 600 veterans attended the ceremonies at the courthouse, presided over by Dr. Henry T. Bahnson, also a veteran. The Daughters designed and financed the monument in memory and in honor of their fathers, brothers, husbands, other family members, and their friends.
The World War I memorial flagpole stood on the corner of Third and Liberty Streets. As the streets were widened over the years, courthouse square has decreased, causing the flagpole to sit closer to the sidewalk.
Crowded conditions again forced the county commissioners to look for more space. In 1925 county offices moved into the Old Universal Building (later called the NCNB Building) while the courthouse was expanded. Sessions of Superior Court were held on one of the upper floors.
Photographs courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
Stay tuned for the next post, Wayback Wednesday: Forsyth County Courthouses, Part 4, on February 24th.
