Roosevelt County Courthouse, Portales, NM
**Roosevelt County Courthouse** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 08001136, date listed 12/3/2008
100 W. 2nd St.
Portales, NM (Roosevelt County)
The Roosevelt County Courthouse occupies an entire block of the Original Townsite plat in the center of downtown Portales. The county’s earlier courthouse, constructed in 1903 when Roosevelt County was formed, previously occupied the same block. In order to accommodate citizens with county business, the grounds surrounding the new courthouse were reduced to permit parking and traffic circulation within the perimeter of the courthouse block. The remaining grounds are landscaped and include two small structures, a picnic gazebo and storage structure, and two objects, all dating within the last 25 years and considered non contributing for this nomination.
Shortly after its creation in 1903, Roosevelt County completed a two-story courthouse consisting of a frame construction with cement block walls. By the 1930s, many of the county's leaders felt that the building was inadequate, and in 1935 the county’s Board of Commissioners applied to the Public Works Administration (PWA) for a grant to construct a new courthouse and jail. Although voters initially rejected a bond issue that would have added county funds to the Public Work Administrations (PWA) grant, in 1937 they approved a larger bond issue, and architect Robert E. Merrell supplied plans for a new courthouse. In December 1937 construction began, at times employing as many as 60 workers, with the new courthouse completed in January 1939. Funded, in part, with a grant from the PWA and a project that created jobs for some of the unemployed in Roosevelt County, the building is a good example of a New Deal public works project. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...
Roosevelt County Courthouse, Portales, NM
**Roosevelt County Courthouse** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 08001136, date listed 12/3/2008
100 W. 2nd St.
Portales, NM (Roosevelt County)
The Roosevelt County Courthouse occupies an entire block of the Original Townsite plat in the center of downtown Portales. The county’s earlier courthouse, constructed in 1903 when Roosevelt County was formed, previously occupied the same block. In order to accommodate citizens with county business, the grounds surrounding the new courthouse were reduced to permit parking and traffic circulation within the perimeter of the courthouse block. The remaining grounds are landscaped and include two small structures, a picnic gazebo and storage structure, and two objects, all dating within the last 25 years and considered non contributing for this nomination.
Shortly after its creation in 1903, Roosevelt County completed a two-story courthouse consisting of a frame construction with cement block walls. By the 1930s, many of the county's leaders felt that the building was inadequate, and in 1935 the county’s Board of Commissioners applied to the Public Works Administration (PWA) for a grant to construct a new courthouse and jail. Although voters initially rejected a bond issue that would have added county funds to the Public Work Administrations (PWA) grant, in 1937 they approved a larger bond issue, and architect Robert E. Merrell supplied plans for a new courthouse. In December 1937 construction began, at times employing as many as 60 workers, with the new courthouse completed in January 1939. Funded, in part, with a grant from the PWA and a project that created jobs for some of the unemployed in Roosevelt County, the building is a good example of a New Deal public works project. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...