Memorial Courthouse

First Davis County Courthouse
(Knowlton, Brief History of Farmington)

On March 3, 1852, the Territorial Legislature created Davis County and named Farmington the county seat. The first County Court (now the Board of Commissioners) met on March 22, 1852. The Court instructed the County Clerk in June, 1853, "to make out three draughts (blueprints) of a County Court House to be presented at the next general election." Utah's first courthouse, the two-story adobe building (photo) was built on a rocky knoll on the south side of State Street in Farmington. It contained three jury rooms, three offices, a hall and a courtroom. In 1861, an east room was secured for a jail. A new privy was built in 1862. In 1867, handcuffs and a ball and chain were purchased, and an iron jail cage was installed in the northeast corner room. After a new courthouse was constructed, Mrs. Aurelia S. Rogers was granted use of the upper room for holding a children's Primary Fair in September, 1890. The old facility was then demolished and Farmington's Main Street extended south where the building had stood.

The Davis County Court (Commission) approved the construction of a new courthouse in a special session on May 20, 1889. Plans by Kaysville architect, William Allen, were approved in July, and the building contract was awarded to E. B. Tyson for $11,100 in the August court session. A protest petition from John G. M. Barnes and 150 others was tabled "as being too late to do anything about it." "After making acid tests on brick, it was ordered that the contractor for the new Court House use Mr. Samuel Ward's brick in the erection of the same." Mr. Ward's brickyard was located on the Mountain Road east of Kaysville. C. W. Richardson, bondsman, took over construction of the new courthouse in June, 1890 when the contractor failed to complete his contract. The new building was completed on August 18, 1890.

Second Davis County Courthouse
(Utah State Historical Society)

Third Davis County Courthouse
(Utah State Historical Society)

Davis County Commissioners announced plans in 1929 to enlarge the county courthouse. An initial Renaissance design with a turret corner entrance was replaced by a more traditional plan featuring a classical Grecian portico supported by six Ionian columns. The renovation utilized all the rooms of the original 1890 facility, removing its tall tower and adding east and west wings. A lawsuit filed by some disgruntled citizens failed to stop construction, and the $60,425 project was completed in 1932. A 1957-58 addition doubled the courthouse and another large addition to the southern side was completed in 1979. A 1997 renovation removed the ceiling installed in the front entry hall during the 1932 construction, revealing the original 1890 ornate ceiling, now lighted with antique electrical fixtures.

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