Editing Letcher County, Kentucky (section)

=== History of the courthouse ===
[[File:Mose Adams log cabin - Letcher County, Kentucky.jpeg|left|thumb|204x204px|Mose Adams log cabin, where the first court session was held in 1842]]
At first, residents could not agree where the county seat would be located. Some residents wanted the seat to be in Mayking, others wanted the seat to be in Camp Branch or [[Indian Bottom, Kentucky|Indian Bottom]]. The debate was settled when Stephen Hiram Hogg donated his land in Whitesburg for the building of the courthouse. The first court session was held in a log cabin owned by Mose Adams at the Adams settlement, which was located two-miles up the [[North Fork Kentucky River]] from Whitesburg. John A. Caudill was hired to build the new courthouse and completed it in 1844.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=156 years of courthouses |url=https://usgenwebsites.org/KYLetcher/articles/courthouse156.htm |access-date=2024-05-09 |website=usgenwebsites.org}}</ref>
[[File:Old Letcher County Courthouse.jpg|thumb|231x231px|The third courthouse built by Lemuel R. Perry in 1898 and existed until the 1960s]]
The first courthouse built by Caudill was built of logs, and had plank trimming. It was demolished in 1897 due to its failing condition and Lemuel R. Perry was commissioned to construct a replacement. The new courthouse was built of bricks, and had a large [[cupola]], with a bell inside to call the jury into session. This new courthouse was heated by [[stove]]s and fireplaces until an addition was built in the late–1930s, by the [[Works Progress Administration]]. By the 1960s, the courthouse was deemed too small, and prisoners in the jail on the top floor would often escape by pushing apart the bars, climbing out the window, and sliding down a rope of bedsheets. The [[Area Redevelopment Administration]] provided funding to build a new one.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" />

William Banton Moore, an architect from [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]], was hired to design the new courthouse. Ramsey and Clubb, a construction company from [[Shelbyville, Kentucky]], was hired to build it. It was completed in 1965, and a dedication ceremony was held with [[Governor of Kentucky|governor]] [[Bert Combs]] in attendance. The new courthouse had a [[Contemporary art|contemporary]] design with blue and beige panels. It also had a jail located on the top floor and a public library at the bottom. The construction of the new courthouse cost about [[US$]]650,000. Many locals were dissatisfied with the new courthouse, thinking it looked like a [[gas station]].<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" />
[[File:Letcher County Courthouse.jpg|left|thumb|195x195px|The Letcher County Courthouse, remodeled in 1998. The bell at the front was the same one that was used to call the court into session in the old courthouse]]
By the 1990s, the courthouse was in disrepair, and state officials were threatening to close the top floor. Local government officials were able to obtain federal funding, and the building was remodeled in 1998. The jail, which was located at the top floor of the building, was moved to the bottom floor, and a statue honoring veterans was moved to the front of the building in the new version of the Letcher County courthouse.<ref name=":9" />