Editor,

The old courthouse was sold at auction for $1. It was to be removed upon completion of the new building.

It was to be removed by Dec. 22 - 1924, that is.

The “new” $250,000 courthouse was dedicated Sept. 1, 1924. Commissioners promptly advertised for bids to tear down and move the “discarded” building.

B. F. Palmer bid $1 for the 1889 courthouse on what is now Harrington Square in downtown Rockingham to be able to remove the two-story brick structure.

“The vacant space in the center of town will probably be made into a public park, and eventually be the site for a monument,” said the Rockingham Post-Dispatch, Sept. 24, 1924.

The same issue of the newspaper said the United Daughters of the Confederacy “will at once put on foot energetic plans for raising the necessary funds” for a monument once the courthouse is gone.

People were once hanged publicly in front of the old courthouse on the square following conviction and a death sentence pronounced.

The last public hanging was held there Oct. 22, 1908. Sheriff M. L. Hinson presided over it. Virginia native Ed Harvey was hanged for the murder of Hugh Price. One of the deputies performed the hanging.

Since the 1924 courthouse will not be “discarded” upon the opening of the new Richmond County Judicial Center this summer, no auction will be necessary.

The name “courthouse” now becomes confusing. The new judicial center is where sessions of court will be held. The courthouse will house other offices. It is not designated for courts although, at least for now, courtrooms will still exist.

Giving directions to the Richmond County Courthouse will now have to be preceded by the question, “Which one?” depending on what offices or courts are to be visited.

Tom MacCallum

Rockingham