Knowing it was coming doesn’t make it any easier.
The Webster County Courthouse demolition has begun, according to Facebook posts and WCBI. The two-story brick Craftsman/Prairie style building was built in 1915 by the Little-Cleckler Construction Company of Anniston, Alabama, and designed by a very young N.W. Overstreet of Overstreet, Spencer & Paine. It was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 1990, but was severely damaged by fire in its attic and second story in January 2013. The supervisors fought the insurance company and preservationists to get a shiny new building, and they finally won last year after allowing the building to sit open to the elements for two years.
I believe this was the first historic courthouse we’ve lost in Mississippi since the demolition of the Carroll County Courthouse in Vaiden in 1993.
Categories: Courthouses, Demolition/Abandonment
Preservation in Mississippi 
A shame. However, i have noticed that we are fasicnated with the idea of Metal Buildings and Asphalt Parking Lots. I repeat, a Shame. Sam P
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What does the new one look like?
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I came through Walthal this fall and was just a tad too late to get a good picture of the building. I wish I had stopped and taken one, bad light, shadows and all. What a shame it was a beautiful building.
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Very Sad Days here in Webster County! The county has provided no information on the appearance of the new one yet, other than to say that it will be 2 story. They have purchased and totally cleared land “on the highway” to construct it. The entrance stairs/terrace of the historic courthouse will be kept and a park will be developed in the former courthouse location… It will never be the same — but the community is trying to make the most out of terrible situation…
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It’ll be “nice, real nice,” I’m sure.
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This did not have to happen, what a needless waste. So sad to see this and sad that the attitude exhibited was so careless. I have to wonder how long the new building will last before they tear it down. I spent my childhood summers in Webster County.
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