The Vidette-Messenger Centennial EditionThe 1936 special edition celebrating Porter County's centennial year . . . .
The following article has been transcribed from the August 18, 1936, issue of The Vidette-Messenger, published in Valparaiso, Indiana. This particular special edition focuses on Porter County's centennial celebration and contains a 94-page compendium of Porter County history up to that time.
Return to the index of articles from The Vidette-Messenger's Porter County Centennial special edition.
Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso,
Porter County, Indiana; August 18, 1936; Volume 10, Section 1, Page 23.
County's Stately Court House Razed By Fire After 51 Year Reign
The destruction
of the Porter county court house by fire on December 27, 1934, was one of the
hardest blows dealt Valparaiso and the county in many years.
The razing of the 51-year-old structure, seat of the county government, was a
distinct loss to every citizen, and the factional fight which followed over its
restoration was a blot on the progressiveness of the community.
Warned time and time again that a fire hazard existed, county commissioner
boards, especially these of later years, remained derelict in their duty in
making the proper changed which would insure safety to the building.
Some twenty or more years ago, Frank D. Chase, Chicago architect, was employed
at a cost of $860 to draw plans for remodeling the building. The cost was
estimated at $30,000. No further action was taken after the plans were
submitted.
Later on one county board was warned that the electric wiring in the building
was defective. No steps were taken to remedy the situation.
The fire which gutted the majestic building was a spectacular one. With the
thermometer below zero firemen from Valparaiso; Gary and LaPorte fought the
blaze with small success. Flames leaped higher than the 175-foot tower and
carried embers for a long distance, threatening other properties.
One fireman, Raymond Meinke, of LaPorte, died of injuries when the LaPorte fire
truck, returning to LaPorte, skidded on the icy highway, six miles east of
Valparaiso and was wrecked.
Burning of the court house precipitated a bitter fight between republicans and
democrats owing to the death of Morgan Porch, democratic county commissioner, a
short time before the fire. The controversy found its way into the courts and is
still undecided.
Destruction of the records caused Porter county courts considerable trouble and
inconvenience. A large amount of records stored in the court rooms were
destroyed. Some of the cases had been tried, while others were pending.
Because of the lack of court facilities many cases from Lake county generally
venued here were lost by transference to other counties. Much of the business
which formerly came here was shunted to LaPorte and Jasper counties.
William Hutton, of Hammond, employed by the county commissioners to draw plans
and specifications for the old building and also for a new building was the
center of a political fight in which J. H. Wilson, Valparaiso citizen, and a son
of John D. Wilson, builder of the court house in 1883-4-5 filed and injunction
to enjoin the county commissioners from paying him any money on his contract. It
was claimed that the county board had failed to make any appropriation to cover
the contract before it entered into one with Hutton.
Hutton finally countered with a suit of his own, demanding $6,910, but agreed
upon a settlement of $2,500 in the LaPorte superior court where the case was
venued. Hutton had acted for the county in the settlement of the fire loss by
which the county received approximately $100,000 from the insurance companies.
Porter county authorities in order to receive government aid in rebuilding filed
numerous petitions with the state PWA. Opposition developed in certain circles
against accepting this aid, and finally the PWA turned thumbs down on all
petitions.
Several surveys were made of the razed building to determine the fitness of the
foundations and walls for rebuilding.
E. H. Ward and Company, Chicago, hired by the county board, made an unfavorable
report on the foundations and walls. Another inspection was made by engineers of
the Indiana Industrial Board and their report was that the foundation and
framework were sufficiently strong to bear the load contemplated.
In a final showdown the WPA notified Porter county authorities it did not care
to allocate funds for an old building on the ground that it was technically and
economically unsound to remodel the old structure.
Early this year Walter Scholer, of Lafayette, was employed as architect to draw
plans for remodeling the structure. Scholer drew plans for reconstructing the
building at a cost of $172,000, which were finally approved by the county board.
At present appropriations and a bond issue in this amount have been approved by
the state tax board. Bids are expected to be asked sometime in September and
work on the new building started in October.
Article transcribed by Steven R. Shook