Harvesting Historical Riches

Ouray County Courthouse

Originally published in Colorado History NOW, April 2004

A corollary to Murphy’s Law states that a car will break down, leaving its owner stranded, the day before a scheduled maintenance check.  A similar situation occurred at the Ouray County Courthouse a few years ago, and the State Historical Fund was there to help out.

On a summer day in 2001, a judge opened a window to cool down a stuffy courtroom.  When a staff member shut the window later on, the heavy sash fell unexpectedly and the glass shattered.  Maintenance personnel checked the 116-year-old building’s other windows and discovered that many of them had severed counterweight ropes, deteriorating sashes and sills, and broken glass.  The county had planned eventually to repair and restore the windows as part of a comprehensive preservation plan completed in 1999, but the newly identified public safety hazard prompted the county to act more quickly.

The Ouray County Courthouse and the Beaumont Hotel—once known as the flagship hotel of the Western Slope—anchor the Ouray National Historic District.  Citizens voted to build the courthouse one year before the hotel opened.  Officials placed the cornerstone amidst “a joyous celebration” in 1888.  They buried a time capsule containing a steel engraving of Chief Ouray, a newspaper, and other items beneath the stone.  Then Masons sprinkled the stone with “corn of nourishment, wine of refreshment, and oil of joy.”  The building opened to even greater fanfare March 15, 1889.

Aesthetically, the courthouse rivals its eclectic neighbor, the Beaumont.  The Solid Muldoon, a local newspaper, noted that it was being built “in a style of architecture unknown to any of our carpenters or builders in this section.”  No wonder.  Designed by Frank Edbrooke and Co., the building exhibits characteristics of several styles popular in the late 1800s, including Romanesque, Italianate, Queen Anne, and a dash of early Classical Revival.  Edbrooke adorned the brick and rusticated stone two-story core with narrow double-hung windows (some with semi-circular arches) and a 75-foot-high cupola capped by a Mansard roof.  During construction, the Solid Muldoon reported, “The cupola…exhibits about the most gorgeous and complete job of song and dance painting we have ever gazed upon.  But then…the town is named for chief Ouray, and it is a regular up and up Ute job in point of taste and contrast in blending colors.”

Aided by a $57,550 State Historical Fund grant, Ouray County restored all of the courthouse’s original double-hung windows during the past two years.  Following national preservation standards, Silverton contractor Klinke and Lew repaired or reused original materials whenever possible and replaced them with new materials only when necessary.  For example, original rolled-glass panes were moved from the east and west sides of the building to windows on the prominent north and south facades.  This maintained the historic integrity of the most visible portions of the structure.  Together with previous SHF-supported projects, such as a roof replacement and an electrical system upgrade, the window restoration will enhance the courthouse’s appearance and safety for generations to come.  And of course, it will safeguard visitors and employees from falling glass and other types of fenestration fiascoes.

BY BEN FOGELBERG, Editor