Finding out the location	very easy
Access	easy
Safety	safe
Risk of being seen	very high
General condition of the place	bad
Traces of vandalism	many
Good place for taking pictures?	very good
Did you see other people?	none or very few

Visit date    August 11 2020 at 9 hr
Visit duration    < 1 hour

This courthouse stuck out like a sore thumb. It was located right in the middle of a booming downtown area right next to an interstate/bridge so it was very obviously out of place. Upon writing by I could immediately tell that it was slightly shoveled. The windows were boarded up and busted out and a lot of the architecture on the outside of starting to crumble or fall away. Also there was a large fence outside and orange tape possibly indicating that they were going to start some sort of renovation or reconstruction, which has apparently been a part of a couple plans but the undertaking of the renovation is going to cost millions so it sits complacent. I entered and upon my initial look around there was a lot of construction bits and pieces such as ledges and concrete accent pieces that came from the outside of the building. It was totally pitch dark and I almost turned around and left. I could barely even see my hand in front of my face and all I had was an iPhone flashlight but I didn’t want to give up so I walked around for a bit. I saw a couple of safes that were empty and started to notice the old architecture in a few doors and windows. I was getting a really creepy vibe and I was slightly worried about running into homeless people. After I walked around for about 30 seconds I located a very deteriorated and creepy stairwell to get upstairs so I took a leap of faith and walked up. At this point I was entering the first floor. There was a lot more light but not so much that I felt totally comfortable. The stairwells were very dim. But the 1/2nd floor was phenomenal. Once up there, I really got the bigger picture of how this place once looked. There was a lot of graffiti and deterioration but I could still make out the beauty and grandeur of this massive structure. There was white marble floors (dirty of course but marvelous none the less), intricate tile accents, a gorgeous double staircase spiraling down the sides of the main room with amazing detail and designs in the railing. To my left, was the courtroom itself. It was complete with the remnants of the rows of chairs for a courthouse audience, a large stand in the middle of the room, an upstairs for extra seating and beautiful large doors with white molding/details all around. To the right, was a few rooms/ offices. They were pretty torn up so I didn’t look too hard that direction. Straight back, there was what appeared to be a receptionist area. It held a massive desk with small rooms surrounding. This room also had a staircase leading to the third floor. I didn’t venture to the third-floor because it seemed possibly unsafe, but I did hear rumors of jail cells on the third floor and also that it was haunted. This courthouse was built in the early 1900s and has been abandoned for almost 50 years now. It has the possibility of being saved and maybe even repurposed, but definitely for a price. For now, it continues to be a historical eyesore and a dent on taxpayer dollars.

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