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153 gayLORD—the courthouse of Otsego county looks much like a Swiss chalet with its peaked roofs, stucco brick, heavy timber, and other architectural characteristics. the effect is intended by this self-described alpine town. the downtown commercial area reflects the same style, which prevailed first as custom and now as law under a local ordinance requiring all businesses in the area to comply with the theme. the county’s boundaries were set off in , and it was named Okkuddo, which probably meant “sickly” or “stomach pains.” It was a three-year bug ending in  with the renaming for a county in new york that in Iroquois means “clear water.” Otsego was organized as its own county on March , . at first Otsego Lake in the more populous southern territory was the county seat. county business, including court proceedings, first occurred in the boarding house of charles Brink. the same simple frame structure later gained additions as it became a number of different hotels and an antique shop. early in the county’s history the northern and central populations pushed for a more convenient county seat location, which meant closer to them. the matter was put to a vote in the spring of , and Otsego Lake was shocked when it lost the county seat by a vote of  to . election officials reportedly stood by with guns ready to quell any potential disturbance as ballots were counted. the record indicates that the other side took advantage of a law requiring only thirty days of residency to vote and persuaded itinerant lumberjacks to support the removal. the centrally located gaylord, which was originally called Barnes, became the county seat. Its second name was for an attorney of the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Railroad. But Otsego Lake would not lose quietly. It refused to turn over the county records. the sheriff led a party one night that fall that surreptitiously took whatever records it could obtain from the courthouse. Some accounts allege that other records were lost or destroyed. Indignant, county officials from the aggrieved former county seat refused to appear at meetings in gaylord. Finally, by order of the Michigan Supreme court they were compelled to begin coming to gaylord on november , . earlier, the first circuit court session in gaylord happened on april , . a proper court was not erected until . It was made with brick and in the style of the time, with a cupola prominently at its top. During World War II, the cupola was an aircraft spotting post, as were several other courthouse towers throughout Michigan. the bottom floor contained the sheriff’s residence and a jail. county offices were on the second floor, and the court, jury room, and judge’s chambers were on the third floor. as the northern terminus of the railroad for some time, gaylord’s population exploded. the courthouse served well, but its death knell came in the s. It was at this time that gaylord formalized its relationship with Pontresina, its sister city in Switzerland. Interest grew that decade with the arrival of members of the Swiss press corps who came to see Swiss machinery unveiled at a nearby wood-processing plant. Some credit a local ski resort with planting the seeds decades earlier for an alpine theme. However it emerged, gaylord’s special affinity for the Otsego County OtSegO cOunty 154 Swiss alps is apparent. county and city leaders approved an alpine design for the new Otsego county–city of gaylord Building, which was dedicated on September , , seven weeks late due to a carpenters’ strike. a joint authority bonded $, for the project, with the county shouldering . percent and the city the rest. Like Otsego Lake in the county seat struggle, the old courthouse did not go down without a fight. a temporary court and county offices were placed in a school gym during construction.a probate judge refused to move, declared the effort illegal, and had the sheriff detain the chairman of the county board of supervisors in the temporary court. the matter was eventually resolved and the old court demolished. Inside the new building is a large framed photograph of its predecessor.Like the exterior,the interior is unmistakably alpine in its woodwork and stucco walls. translucent green, orange, purple, and blue glass adorns several areas. colored glass in the form of Pontresina’s heraldry hangs in the city office. the courtroom has an arched ceiling and a dominant bench and jury box behind light woodwork. the judge, jurors, and attorneys enjoy cushioned black...

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