Preserve Nevada, the statewide nonprofit that is dedicated to preserving Nevada’s historical sites, recently put the Mineral County courthouse on its 2023 Most Endangered List.
Across the state, Preserve Nevada points out places that are suffering from neglect, are unsafe, or are in imminent danger of disappearing. It relies on the National Trust for Historic Preservation model to come up with its list of threatened places…and recognized the shuttered courthouse as one of these sites that is important to protect and for the public to know better.
Kayla Anderson – The Mineral County courthouse was recently placed on the Preserve Nevada Most Endangered List.
Located on 5th and C Streets in Hawthorne, the Mineral County courthouse was built in 1883 and served as the Esmeralda County seat until it moved to Goldfield in 1907. Four years later, the Nevada Legislature created Mineral County and allocated Hawthorne for its seat.
The original two-story Italianate courthouse that served two county seats cost $33,976 to construct. It featured buttressed sidewalls; slightly arched windows and doorways; central gables; bracketed cornice along the roof line; and a five-sided semi-circular shaped entry porch with wooden columns. One of its most prominent adornments is a balustrade in a pentagram shape. In the 1930s, a concrete vault was added, and the roof’s cupola was removed.
The courthouse was used until 1969, when officials decided to build a new 9,000-square-foot building that opened the following year (the original courthouse was in operation from 1883-1972). The new brick courthouse on 314 5th Street was more functional in its design and is what is predominantly used for Mineral County business today.
When the courthouse was still a part of Esmeralda County, a bond sale helped cover the debt on construction of the new building. The final debt payment was made in 2020, when the historic courthouse celebrated its 90th anniversary. The original courthouse has been closed since the new one was built, and the beautiful Italianate complex surrounded by towering cottonwoods has remained dormant.
Mineral County Museum Director Kellie Zuniga holds a key to the courthouse, but she’s never been inside.
It’s been closed because it needs to be restored,” Zuniga says, explaining that anyone who wants to go inside would need to get permission from the Mineral County commissioners. “It’s going to take a lot of effort and a team of people to help open it again,” she adds.
Mineral County Grant Administrator Alyssa Burke said that the county has submitted a Letter of Intent to the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for the Commission for Cultural Centers and Historic Preservation grant. The applications for that grant are due April 30, 2024, and the county also plans to apply for the technical guidance provided by SHPO and use the phased approach that was outlined in previous studies of the building.
