Comanche County Courthouse
Address:
201 S. New York
Coldwater,
KS
67029
Telephone Number:
620.582.2361
Website:
www.comanchecounty.com
About this Exploration:
Comanche County has somewhat fraudulent beginnings, when a group of five men organized themselves as county officials, and compiled a list of fictitious voters. With this they were given state money for a new courthouse, schools, roads and bridges, as well as for other county expenses. One of the men elected himself to the state legislature where he received an additional $40,000 for county expenses.
The Kansas attorney general stepped in and declared the establishment of Comanche County a fraud, and stopped all funding. He stated: “In this county there is not an acre of land or dollars worth of taxation, subject of taxation. Its sole inhabitants are the Cheyennes, the wolves and the Arapahos and its organization is and always has been a fraud.”
In 1888 the county legitimately organized and built a wood frame courthouse that was later destroyed by fire, and replaced by the existing brick structure of today.
The Comanche County Courthouse is a landmark in Coldwater. It is beautifully maintained thanks to the organization of the county commissioners and the people who care about Coldwater and Comanche County.
The Comanche County Courthouse has excellent architectural integrity, remaining mostly original since day of completion in 1927. The entrance doors were replaced with metal-frame doors with side windows and mirrored glass.
The courthouse still boasts of a large, antique, working, wind-up wall clock on the second floor.
The original iron stair casing with terrazzo treads runs from the basement, housing several county offices to the third floor that still has part of the original jail and other offices.
The courtroom has the original light fixtures that are still used today.