Michigan's County Courthouses

Alcona County

3 harrIsVIlle—alcona County prides itself as first among michigan’s eighty-three counties, at least alphabetically. “First of ‘83’” appears prominently in its county symbol, which adorns its county buildings in the form of large wooden signs. alcona means “fine and excellent plain” or “favored land.” henry rowe schoolcraft, an influential state official who named many northern counties, is said to have coined the name by juxtaposing three syllables never before combined . “al” is arabic for “the.” “Co” is the root of a word meaning plain or prairie.“Na,” when it ends a word, means excellence or “fine or excellent place.” the name replaced the original 1840 name of the county, which was Negwegon in honor of a Native american chief and an ally of america during the War of 1812. his name means “Wing” or “little Wing.” the legislature organized the county in 1868, and harrisville was designated the county seat. earlier, the town was called Davison’s mill for an early settler. benjamin harris and his sons bought the pine lands and water privileges, renaming the locale for their surname, which was given a post office named harrisville on september 16, 1857. It was incorporated as a village in 1887 and as a city in 1905. at various times the county was previously attached to Cheboygan, alpena, and Iosco Counties. It wasted little time once it was organized in its own right. Its board of supervisors first met on may 8, 1869, and voted for $3,000 in bonds for a courthouse, which voters approved in august. an additional $3,000 was approved in april 1870, the year that construction was completed. Joseph Van buskirk directed the initial construction of the courthouse, which was completed in the same year. later construction added more room, such as a basement, to the building, which served until 1953. It was a modest yet elegant two-story brick building. It was deeper than it was wide, with rows of rectangular windows along its sides. the front entrance had a few arched windows. high above the entrance was a distinctive tower, which cast forth an unmistakable silhouette. Friday the thirteenth of November 1953 will not soon pass from the memory of alcona. on this day the courthouse burned to the ground. the fire originated in alcona county artwork inside alcona County’s courthouse depicts its 1870 predecessor. alCoNa CouNty 4 the basement and engulfed the building despite everyone’s best efforts. most county records were saved. everything was moved to temporary facilities around town, including a veterans’ club. Insurance proceeds and money from the county’s general fund paid for the newer brick courthouse, which is modern in design with a flat roof. lettering along one of its sides proclaims itself not just a courthouse but the alcona County building. the building was dedicated on June 9, 1956. ralph s. Gerganoff of ypsilanti, who designed a number of other michigan courthouses, was the architect. the Davisonrose Company was the builder. Inside the lobby of the building is an antique fire engine built in Cincinnati. alcona purchased it at the turn of the twentieth century from Chelsea. It sits on four wheels and has a hundred-gallon tank. the purchase price was $450, with one-third up front and the remainder with interest over the following years. It was taken out of service in 1925. For many years it occupied a street corner.a former harrisville mayor and his wife worked to restore it, which led to indoor displaying. elsewhere, the interior of the building is more functional and, as some might observe, spartan. the courtroom is modest and has high windows and a paneled ceiling with hanging fans above the tile floor. the walls are cinder block and painted a lighter shade above eye level. there is a simple wooden bench and jury box, plus unadorned benches for the public. blue fabric cushions do provide jurors and spectators with some comfort. the rear of the courtroom features portraits of past circuit judges who have served alcona. one of them likely presided over the case of the pacing defendant. a former county official recalled with some humor the man who inventively tried to beat the rap for some unremembered charge in the 1960s. as the jury deliberated, he pensively walked up and down the sidewalk below the window of the jury room. his intent reportedly was to exhibit his great concern and to sway the jury in favor of acquittal. he must have...