Dickson County Courthouse - Dickson

 

After a heated battle over whether to move the courthouse from Charlotte to Dickson, an election was held on September 1, 1898.  The vote was 1495 for and 714 against moving the courthouse, 67 votes more than the two-thirds majority necessary to make the move. The state legislature worked out a compromise, dividing the county into seven equal districts with a courthouse in both Dickson and Charlotte. Anyone arrested north of Jones Creek was taken to the Dickson County Courthouse in Charlotte; south of Jones Creek, to the Dickson County Courthouse in Dickson. 

 

On April 6, 1914, County Squire W. H. Stringfellow introduced a resolution in the county court to move the county seat and courthouse to Dickson. The resolution passed in the county but failed in the August election.  

 

On December 10, 1925, the courthouse (pictured at left) in Dickson was condemned by a state-hired engineer. The December term of the circuit court was held at the second floor of the Masonic building (later known as Ragan’s Friendly Neighbor Store) because officials feared the top floor of the courthouse might fall through with the large crowd expected to attend the trials. In April 1926, the Dickson County Quarterly Court voted 29 to 6 against the funding for a new courthouse in Dickson.

 

In February 1927, the Dickson Board of Mayor and Alderman accepted a resolution from the Dickson American Legion Post that the old courthouse grounds be sold for a city park and playground. Proceeds from the sale in April of 1927 were to create the playground and park, but they were never built. Instead, the property was used for the War Memorial Building.

 

A resolution introduced in April 1927 by Squire F.R. Smith (8th District) to move the county seat to Dickson passed the County Court but again failed to pass the general election, and on July 9, 1928, work crews began demolishing the old courthouse in Dickson. Timbers from the courthouse were used in additions to Oakmont School. 

 

On July 2, 1929, the alderman voted to deed the old Dickson courthouse property to the Memorial Building Commission. In February of 1931, House of Representatives abolished the Town of Dickson’s circuit court.

 

Photo and text provided by Alan Ragan