Old State Courthouse

It may not be the astonishing light show that you remember as a child, but the Christmas Lights in Marshall can still get the seasonal juices flowing.
They charge $ 5 per car now… tsk tsk tsk. But I suppose it is better than discontinuing it for lack of tax dollars.

I had the pleasure of going on a tour of this old courthouse when I was in about 4^th or 5^th grade. I remember they had a lot of artifacts inside, including a room full of arrowheads that had been found in Harrison County and another full of knives. I remember the Marshall Courthouse feeling haunted, full of old spirits. This would be in the mid to late 80s, so it hadn’t been used as a courthouse for 20 years and at that time housed a history museum. It was very very creepy and very very old, but still beautiful and classical, retaining a lot of original 1900 architectural elements.
It seemed like they lit the courthouse brighter for the Trail of Lights back then. Maybe it’s just memory interfering with reality, but I remember the courthouse dripping with lights and now, it looks kind of barren. I love the large eagles that encircle the domed roof outside the courthouse. It really is a treasure of a building.

Whether funny or sad, I will let you decide. The town of Marshall started a project to completely renovate this historic building, which for many years served as the Harrison County courthouse and is at the center of the town square. They finished the outside, which looks beautiful, but then apparently did not have the money to finish the inside. So the courthouse sits with a chain link fence around its perimeter, with boarded windows, but otherwise a majestic monument to justice.
Whether or not anyone can use it, it still looks nice, and they do a great job lighting it up at Christmas. Hopefully one day they will get the funds to finish the job. Until then, the very boxy and ugly current county courthouse to the west does all the state court business.
P. S. I’ve been there more recently (as recently as Jan. 2007) and it looks like the work continues. The parking lot is fenced and more work is being done on the perimeter. Still cannot tell what if anything is being done INSIDE the building, though.