The Jasper courthouse square still carries the old red-brick story

The courthouse square in Jasper is not just a place to find an office window. A two-room log courthouse on the same site burned in 1849, and a two-story replacement was completed around 1854. The current courthouse came later: a locally made red-brick building completed in 1889, with a four-sided clock and bell tower added one year after that.

The building did not freeze in time. Wings were added on the east and west sides in 1931, the courthouse was covered with stucco, and a Works Progress Administration office building went up beside it in 1940. The clock tower came down during a 1957 remodeling project, which is why old courthouse photos can look a little surprising if you compare them with the building today.

After all those changes, the square still does the job courthouse squares were meant to do. County offices and landscaped grounds share the same block, while the altered brick building keeps more than a century of local decisions visible. It is a working courthouse and a memory map at the same time.