Notice To Builders
By order of the County Court of Cannon County, the undersigned will, on the 31st of this inst. in the town of Woodbury, let out in the lowest bidder, the building of a Court House and Jail. The plan upon which they are to be constructed, will be made known on the day. The Court house is ordered to be constructed exactly after the plan of the Murfreesboro Court house, except that it is not to be so long by twelve feet, and not so wide by two feet - It is to be 60 by 45 feet. And it is to be finished off in the same style of said Murfreesboro Court house, except a Cupola on top, and the walls inside to be finished off exactly similar to the out side, instead of plastering and ceiling. The buildings are required to be completed on or before the first day of October 1837.
Commissioners:
Wm. Bates
Arch'D. Stone
John B. Stone
Joseph Clare
John Brown
August 9, 1836
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Cannon County Minutes Quarterly County Court - Special Term - November 20, 1934
It was moved and recorded that the Chairman of the Court be and is hereby authorized and empowered to pay out of the funds arising from the insurance carried on the destroyed courthouse the sum of $2,000.00 for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who burned the courthouse. Further that if said insurance is not paid by said Insurance Company that the county court appropriate the above sum out of the general county funds for said arrest and conviction and said motion being put to a vote by the Chairman upon the call of the roll by the clerk. Showed the following vote, viz:
For motion - 32
Against motion - none
Absent - note
At it appearing to the court that said motion carried. It is made the order of
this court.
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It was moved and recorded that the sum of $500.00 be appropriated by the court for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who destroyed certain books or records missing from the vault in the courthouse before the burning of same and said motion being put to a vote by the Chairman upon the call of the roll by the Cler, showed the following vote, viz:
For motion - 31
Against motion - none
Present and Not Voting - one
Absent - none
and it appearing to the court that said motion carried, it is made the order of this court.
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Cannon County Minutes Quarterly County Court Special Term - December 3, 1934
Be it remembered that a special session of the quarterly county court met a the high school gymnasium pursuant to adjourning order of November 20, 1924 Present and presiding the Honorable Charles Mason, Chairman of the county court and present John B. Gribble, Clerk of said court, and J.T. Smith, Sheriff of Cannon County, TN. Proclamation having been made by the Sheriff. Court was opened in due form, when the following orders and proceedings were had and ordered to be entered of record, to wit: Upon motion duly made and recorded it was ordered that the following resolution be adopted. 'Be it resolved by the quarterly county court of cannon County, TN, that for the purpose of building a courthouse for Cannon County, Tennessee, we hereby authorize a bond issue to be executed hereafter in a sum of not exceeding $30,000.00.' We hereby appoint a building committee consisting of five members to wit:
W.B. Rogers
E.E. Todd
Bob Gilley
S.A. Davenport
W.S. Hollandsworth
Whose duty it shall be and who are hereby authorized and empowered to employ an architect to draft necessary plans and specifications and assist in preparing the contract for construction and other things necessary to e done by him and to eventually supervise the construction of the building when the contract is awarded. That the said committee shall let this contract to the lowest, acceptable bidder requiring the said contractor to execute an solvent and sufficient bond guaranteeing the faithful performance of the contract. That the said committee shall serve without any compensation except, they be allowed their actual expenses upon an itemized account thereof. That the architect figure his expenses into and including in the costs of this building.
Chas Mason, Chairman and said Resolution being put to a vote by the Chairman upon the call of the roll by the Clerk, showed the following vote:
For Motion - 31
Against Motion - 0
Absent - 1
and said Resolution having carried by the vote aforesaid, it is therefore made the order of this court. It was moved and seconded that the court stand adjourned until the first Monday in January 1935, the regular meeting date of this court. Minutes read and approved. This day of December, 1934. Chas Mason, Chairman
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Cannon County Minutes Quarterly County Court, January Term 1935
Monday, January 7, 1935
Upon Motoin of D.F. Williams, seconded by J.J. Mitchell, it was duly adopted and ordered by the Court that the Chairman of this Court, G.B. Parker, together with Walter Hancock, a member of the Woodbury Bar; J.B. Carson and L.L. Yargin, Justices of the Peace, be and they are made members of the Courthouse Building Committee so that said Committee is and shall be constituted of the following members: E.E. Todd, Bob Gilley, G.A. Davenport, W.B. Rogers, G.B. Parker, J.B. Creson, L.L. Yeargin, W.G. Hollandsworth, and Walter Hancock
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Cannon County Minutes Quarterly County Court Special Term January 21, 1935
It was moved and seconded that the Building Committee on the courthouse defer the awarding of the contract on the building of said courthouse until after the passage of the Act or Law authorizing the issuance of bond for said purpose and until after the next Special Session of this court which motion carried and it is so ordered.
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Cannon County Minutes Quarterly County Court, April Term 1935
Monday, April 1, 1935
It was moved by Justice D.F. Williams and seconded by Justice F.M. Lester, that Cannon County issue $30,000.00 worth of its bonds, in accordance with the recent act of the Legislature and further that Cannon County build and equip a courthouse with said issuance of bonds as directed in said act of the Legislature said act being known as the Private Acts of 1935, House Bill No. 150. Private Acts of the State of Tennessee, which motion being put to a vote by the Chairman upon roll call by the Clerk where the following Justices voted in favor of said Motion, to-wit: C.C. Elrod, J.J. Mitchell, J.J. Nichols, D.A. Todd, J.A. Arnold, G.W. Downing, F.M. Lester, D.F. Williams, Charles Mason, Dixie Warren, W.A. Purser, J.H. Womack, L.L. Yeargin, R.C. Harris, J.R.Simmons, L.L. Thomas, G.A. Davenport, Joe B. Watson, W.B. Rogers and G.B. parker - Total 20 Justices voting against motion were: A.L. Hollis, M.F. Reed, Bob Gilley, T.O. Muncey, M. S. George, C.E. Grooms, F.E. Shelton, J.P. McCaslin, T.A. Alexander and Clyde Hollandsworth - Total - 10 Absent: E.E. Todd and J.B. Creson Thereupon the Chairman declared said motion carried and order the same spread upon the minutes.
By order of the County Court of Cannon County, the undersigned will, on the 31st of this inst. in the town of Woodbury, let out in the lowest bidder, the building of a Court House and Jail. The plan upon which they are to be constructed, will be made known on the day. The Court house is ordered to be constructed exactly after the plan of the Murfreesboro Court house, except that it is not to be so long by twelve feet, and not so wide by two feet - It is to be 60 by 45 feet. And it is to be finished off in the same style of said Murfreesboro Court house, except a Cupola on top, and the walls inside to be finished off exactly similar to the out side, instead of plastering and ceiling. The buildings are required to be completed on or before the first day of October 1837.
Commissioners:
Wm. Bates
Arch'D. Stone
John B. Stone
Joseph Clare
John Brown
August 9, 1836
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Cannon County Minutes Quarterly County Court - Special Term - November 20, 1934
It was moved and recorded that the Chairman of the Court be and is hereby authorized and empowered to pay out of the funds arising from the insurance carried on the destroyed courthouse the sum of $2,000.00 for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who burned the courthouse. Further that if said insurance is not paid by said Insurance Company that the county court appropriate the above sum out of the general county funds for said arrest and conviction and said motion being put to a vote by the Chairman upon the call of the roll by the clerk. Showed the following vote, viz:
For motion - 32
Against motion - none
Absent - note
At it appearing to the court that said motion carried. It is made the order of
this court.
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It was moved and recorded that the sum of $500.00 be appropriated by the court for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who destroyed certain books or records missing from the vault in the courthouse before the burning of same and said motion being put to a vote by the Chairman upon the call of the roll by the Cler, showed the following vote, viz:
For motion - 31
Against motion - none
Present and Not Voting - one
Absent - none
and it appearing to the court that said motion carried, it is made the order of this court.
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Cannon County Minutes Quarterly County Court Special Term - December 3, 1934
Be it remembered that a special session of the quarterly county court met a the high school gymnasium pursuant to adjourning order of November 20, 1924 Present and presiding the Honorable Charles Mason, Chairman of the county court and present John B. Gribble, Clerk of said court, and J.T. Smith, Sheriff of Cannon County, TN. Proclamation having been made by the Sheriff. Court was opened in due form, when the following orders and proceedings were had and ordered to be entered of record, to wit: Upon motion duly made and recorded it was ordered that the following resolution be adopted. 'Be it resolved by the quarterly county court of cannon County, TN, that for the purpose of building a courthouse for Cannon County, Tennessee, we hereby authorize a bond issue to be executed hereafter in a sum of not exceeding $30,000.00.' We hereby appoint a building committee consisting of five members to wit:
W.B. Rogers
E.E. Todd
Bob Gilley
S.A. Davenport
W.S. Hollandsworth
Whose duty it shall be and who are hereby authorized and empowered to employ an architect to draft necessary plans and specifications and assist in preparing the contract for construction and other things necessary to e done by him and to eventually supervise the construction of the building when the contract is awarded. That the said committee shall let this contract to the lowest, acceptable bidder requiring the said contractor to execute an solvent and sufficient bond guaranteeing the faithful performance of the contract. That the said committee shall serve without any compensation except, they be allowed their actual expenses upon an itemized account thereof. That the architect figure his expenses into and including in the costs of this building.
Chas Mason, Chairman and said Resolution being put to a vote by the Chairman upon the call of the roll by the Clerk, showed the following vote:
For Motion - 31
Against Motion - 0
Absent - 1
and said Resolution having carried by the vote aforesaid, it is therefore made the order of this court. It was moved and seconded that the court stand adjourned until the first Monday in January 1935, the regular meeting date of this court. Minutes read and approved. This day of December, 1934. Chas Mason, Chairman
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Cannon County Minutes Quarterly County Court, January Term 1935
Monday, January 7, 1935
Upon Motoin of D.F. Williams, seconded by J.J. Mitchell, it was duly adopted and ordered by the Court that the Chairman of this Court, G.B. Parker, together with Walter Hancock, a member of the Woodbury Bar; J.B. Carson and L.L. Yargin, Justices of the Peace, be and they are made members of the Courthouse Building Committee so that said Committee is and shall be constituted of the following members: E.E. Todd, Bob Gilley, G.A. Davenport, W.B. Rogers, G.B. Parker, J.B. Creson, L.L. Yeargin, W.G. Hollandsworth, and Walter Hancock
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Cannon County Minutes Quarterly County Court Special Term January 21, 1935
It was moved and seconded that the Building Committee on the courthouse defer the awarding of the contract on the building of said courthouse until after the passage of the Act or Law authorizing the issuance of bond for said purpose and until after the next Special Session of this court which motion carried and it is so ordered.
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Cannon County Minutes Quarterly County Court, April Term 1935
Monday, April 1, 1935
It was moved by Justice D.F. Williams and seconded by Justice F.M. Lester, that Cannon County issue $30,000.00 worth of its bonds, in accordance with the recent act of the Legislature and further that Cannon County build and equip a courthouse with said issuance of bonds as directed in said act of the Legislature said act being known as the Private Acts of 1935, House Bill No. 150. Private Acts of the State of Tennessee, which motion being put to a vote by the Chairman upon roll call by the Clerk where the following Justices voted in favor of said Motion, to-wit: C.C. Elrod, J.J. Mitchell, J.J. Nichols, D.A. Todd, J.A. Arnold, G.W. Downing, F.M. Lester, D.F. Williams, Charles Mason, Dixie Warren, W.A. Purser, J.H. Womack, L.L. Yeargin, R.C. Harris, J.R.Simmons, L.L. Thomas, G.A. Davenport, Joe B. Watson, W.B. Rogers and G.B. parker - Total 20 Justices voting against motion were: A.L. Hollis, M.F. Reed, Bob Gilley, T.O. Muncey, M. S. George, C.E. Grooms, F.E. Shelton, J.P. McCaslin, T.A. Alexander and Clyde Hollandsworth - Total - 10 Absent: E.E. Todd and J.B. Creson Thereupon the Chairman declared said motion carried and order the same spread upon the minutes.
2021
The Cannon County Courthouse is nominated to the National Register under criterion C for its importance in architecture. Built in the Colonial Revival style, it is the only historic public building in Woodbury designed by a formally trained architect. Most buildings in Woodbury, a small rural county seat, are vernacular adaptations of architectural styles or show influences from pattern book detailing. This characteristic is true whether the building is a dwelling, church, or governmental building. With its finely detailed cupola and striking two story classical pilasters, the courthouse is a truly locally significant architectural statement, reflecting some of the best features of the Colonial Revival style.The Colonial Revival style reached the height of its popularity for public buildings in the 1930s. With its ordered symmetry, modest scale, and traditional nationalistic image, Colonial Revival represented architectural continuity with the Revolutionary Era to remind people caught in the midst of the Great Depression of their proud heritage of orderly government, modesty, and self-sufficiency. In addition, the economic realities of the 1930s dictated a more modest scale and style than the grandiose Beaux-Arts public buildings that had been popular prior to the Depression. However, popular interest in the Colonial Revival did not stem solely from a desire and need to tone down prior architectural excesses. The restoration of Colonial Williamsburg captivated the public imagination and had a significant impact on popularizing Colonial building types.Characteristic of the Colonial Revival style in public buildings during the 1930s was a "red brick structure whose facade presented a balanced composition, accentuated usually by small-pane windows, central ornamented entrances, and the roof surmounted by a cupola and spire." Fitting this description perfectly, and reminiscent of Independence Hall in its form, the Cannon County Courthouse is an excellent representation of the Colonial Revival style in public buildings of the period. Moreover, it is significant that the civic leaders of Cannon County chose the Colonial Revival style for their new courthouse, reflecting the penetration of the style into one of Tennessee's most isolated counties.Fourteen courthouses were built or remodeled during the 1930s in Tennessee. At least five were designed by the prominent Nashville architectural firm of Marr and Holman and five were funded with money from the WPA. Many of these have classically inspired designs or reflect the simplified Art Deco designs popular for public buildings in the 1930s. Like the Cannon County Courthouse, the Claiborne County Courthouse is brick with a central pediment on its symmetrically proportioned facade and small pane windows, however, it has no cupola. The much simpler style courthouse in Pickett County is the only other extant 1930s courthouse that has a cupola. Both the Hancock and Macon County courthouses have similar design features with the Cannon County Courthouse in their use of brick, symmetry, and central entries. The Cannon County Courthouse is the only one that has all of the features of a Colonial Revival building as defined by Gebhard.Cannon County was organized on January 31, 1836 from land taken from Rutherford, Smith and Warren counties. By 1836, the population in the wooded hills of Cannon County had grown so as to make the establishment of a county seat necessary for the convenience of this population. Cannon County was named in honor of Newton Cannon, governor of Tennessee in 1836. The act establishing the county also provided for the establishment of a county seat within five miles of the existing hamlet of Danville. The site of Danville was chosen for the county seat and the name changed to Woodbury to honor Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury under President Andrew Jackson. As county seat, Woodbury has remained the only commercial town of any significance in this rural county.The first court house in Woodbury was built by William Bates in 1838. It was located on the square and financed by the sale of town lots. Woodbury's square conforms to the pattern established in Shelbyville, Tennessee of a planned central courthouse square with the four principal streets in the town intersecting at the corners of the square. (The Shelbyville Square pattern was a frequently employed configuration in courthouse towns, especially in Texas and the lower Midwest.) Bates' 1838 courthouse served as the seat of county government until it burned under mysterious circumstances on November 13, 1934. The present courthouse was constructed on the same site by the Bell Brothers of Murfreesboro, Tennessee under the direction of George D. Waller. Waller (1883-1969) was a Nashville architect known for his church and school designs throughout Middle Tennessee. This courthouse was financed by the sale of county bonds and cost $45,000.00 to complete. Work began on the present courthouse on November 4, 1935. The cornerstone was laid in March, 1936 and the building completed several months later.The courthouse dominates the business district of Woodbury. Its Colonial Revival style is a traditional statement of the power of the county government: in employing a historic style, the building emphasizes its links with the American past and the virtues of liberty and justice by evoking the architecture of the Revolutionary period. Further, the size and style of the courthouse mark it as the only significant public building in this predominantly rural county and the most architecturally and historically important building in Woodbury. The courthouse is also the social center of Woodbury: older men still congregate on the benches surrounding the court house, young people park their cars and pickups in the surrounding parking lot to mingle.Moreover, the courthouse represents the continuity of local government in Cannon County over the last 150 years. It is only the second courthouse in Cannon County and has served with no major alterations as the seat of county government since 1936. The strength and independence of local government is symbolized by the solidity and traditional image of the building. The Cannon County Courthouse embodies a patriotic expression linking the glories and virtues of the Revolutionary period and the strength of the institution of local government.
.The Cannon County Courthouse is centrally located in the business district of Woodbury, Tennessee (pop. 2200) on a square bounded by Main, Cannon, Water and Tatum Streets. The building was designed by Nashville architect George D. Waller and built in 1935-1936 by Bell Brothers of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Built in Colonial Revival style, the courthouse is a two-story rectangular-shaped (86'6" X 39'6") brick building laid in common bond with seventeen rows of stretchers between each row of headers. It rests on a rough-cut stone foundation which contains a basement. The building is composed of a five-bay central block flanked by one-bay wings on the east and west at a slightly lower elevation. The building has a three-part gable-end tile roof, octagonal wooden cupola with metal dome and a flagpole finial and one plain brick chimney on the northeast corner of the central block and east wing. The courthouse dominates the skyline; as the tallest building in Woodbury, its cupola is visible from both main approaches to town. Apart from the installation of modern metal and glass double-leaf security doors at the four entrances and an acoustic tile ceiling in the courtroom, the courthouse remains virtually unaltered since the date of its construction, both inside and out.The main facade faces south onto Woodbury's Main Street. The central block is set off from the wings by stone quoins which rise from the stone water table to the cornice belt course.. The five bays in the central block are composed of two metal 6"8" tall 3:6:3 windows on either side of the central doorway on the first floor and five metal 8' tall 3:6:3 windows on the second floor. The bays are separated by four square stone fluted pilasters with Composite capitals featuring broad, stylized volutes and plain bases; they extend the same height as the corner quoins. Each window has a plain stone sill. Between the first and second story windows is a smooth-faced square stone panel surrounded by radiating joint bricks in a flat arch pattern. The bays are further emphasized by one row of stretcher bricks vertically framing each window from the water table to the stone belt course at the height of the cornice of the wings. The central doorway is recessed four feet from the front wall of the building and is set in a tiled vestibule. The door has a stone surround, pediment entablature, and engaged balustrade separating it from the stone-framed window above. Above the belt 'course of the three central bays of the central block is a plain entablature with the words "CANNON COUNTY COURTHOUSE" engraved within. A plain stone cornice extends the width of the central block and separates the entablature from a stepped parapet that is embellished with volutes. The one-bay wings on either side of the central block contain metal 6'8 H tall 3:6:3 windows on both the first and second story. These windows have plain stone sills and rowlock course brick hood mouldings accented by central stone keystones and square stone cornerblocks.The east and west elevations are identical: each is three bays wide with a central doorway framed in stone with a flat hood supported by stylized volutes. The side windows on both stories are metal, 6'8" tall in the 3:6:3 configuration, and topped with a rowlock course brick hood moulding accented with a central stone keystone and square stone cornerblocks. The central window on the second story is of the same configuration but surrounded with stone facing which extends to the sill of a metal 6:3 gable-end attic window. The gable window has a five-light round-arch fanlight in a two-layer brick arch with radiating voussoirs; small stone squares separate the fanlight from the window on each side. The east elevation contains a handicapped access ramp leading to the east door.The north (rear) elevation is nearly identical to the south facade in configuration, but much less ornate. The bay in each of the wings contains a small 1:1 window with no ornamental moulding. There is no pediment over the rear door and the four pilasters separating the central block bays are plain with plain capitals. There is no entablature between the belt course and the roofline and no parapet on the central block. There is a glass and metal coal chute to the left of the rear doorway. Like the front door, the rear door is recessed four feet from the outer wall and set in a tile vestibule.The wooden cupola is on a square base rising from the apex of the gable of the central block. The first section of the drum of the cupola contains a clock facing each direction topped with a decorative gable pediment that is ornamented with returns and brackets. An octagonal rounded-arched bell tower above contains a bell donated to the courthouse by the Woodbury Methodist Church in 1935. The cupola is topped with a metal dome and flagpole finial.The interior of the courthouse is very simple. The first floor contains county offices along an eight foot wide hall running from east to west. A nine foot wide hall running north-south intersects the east-west hall at an octagonal center lobby with a crushed stone mosaic map of Cannon County embedded in the floor. Each of the offices has an original wooden door with a plain surround and three-light transom above. The floors are covered with the original sheet linoleum. The walls have the original light-gold ceramic tile wainscoting (4'3" high) and white plaster above. The ceilings are 9'9" high. The first floor is lit with seven 1930s style glass light fixtures. Two metal staircases, original to the courthouse, lead from the wings to the second story. The east and west entrances contain wooden double-leaf nine-light doors with no transoms inside the modern storm-security doors at the vestibules.The second story contains the courtroom, which encompasses the entire length of the central block and faces west. The courtroom is rectangular in shape (54'6" X 41') with a twelve-foot ceiling. The jury boxes are on either side of the bench and are closed in by a metal railing. The jury boxes are ten feet deep. The wooden bench sits on a raised platform covered with linoleum tile, as is the rest of the courtroom floor. The bar is a metal railing identical to that on the jury boxes. Seating in the courtroom is comprised of wooden fold-down chairs in theater style with aisles on the left and right. All of the furnishings in the courtroom are original to the building. The windows are recessed in the wall with tile sills. The walls are white plaster with the original light-gold ceramic tile wainscoting. The east door of the courtroom is a double-leaf wooden door with a plain wood surround and a rectangular six-light transom above. There is a small glass-covered peep hole in each of the doors, which are original to the building. There are two doors at the west wall of the courtroom, on either side of the bench. Each is plain with no transom and lead into the jury room (on the left) and stair hall (on the right). The ceiling has had acoustic tile added in recent years; otherwise the court room and the entire interior retains all its original integrity.The Cannon County Court House is an excellent blend of a traditional style and 1930s modernism with its tile wainscoting and county map in the central lobby floor. It is the most imposing building in Woodbury and is a proud symbol of the local government. The courthouse stands on the square in Woodbury and is the second court house for the county (the first burned in 1934). The courthouse is surrounded by the principal business streets of the town and is the focus of downtown Woodbury.