As the end of the year approaches, county officials and staff at the Wayne County Courthouse are working toward a celebration in observance of the building's 125th anniversary.
An open house is being planned for Friday, Dec. 13. It will include the weekly Chamber Coffee at 10 a.m. St. Mary's Elementary School and Wayne Community Schools will be bringing students in to perform in the afternoon from 1 to 3 p.m.
The courthouse for Wayne County has been in two locations throughout the area's history.
In 1874 Wayne County voters approved spending $15,000 to build a 40' x 50' brick structure at LaPorte. This is where county government took place until a special election on Dec. 5, 1882 determined the Wayne County seat should be moved to Wayne. After the county seat was moved to Wayne, the courthouse at LaPorte served as the county's poor farm for a number of years.
The county offices were then moved to a building at the corner of Fourth and Main Street. This building burned on July 4, 1884 and a new one constructed on the same site at a cost of $1,800.
The owners of Crawford & Brown's addition to Wayne donated Block 2 to be used by the county to put a county court house and other county buildings there. The first of these buildings were a sheriff's residence and jail.
The present courthouse was constructed following the passage of a bond on Nov. 8, 1898.
Nebraska Masonic grand officers were in Wayne on Aug. 3, 1899 to officiate at the laying of the courthouse cornerstone.
Work progressed quickly and the new courthouse was occupied Dec. 28, 1899.
In the last 125 years, all work done on the structure was completed with the thought of keeping the building as close to original as possible. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and continues to serve Wayne County residents in a variety of ways.
