Historic Courthouse In Murray Collapses

After standing 112 years, Murray’s historic courthouse succumbed to time’s death sentence.

The execution came Friday night.

“We happened to be looking out the window,” said Murray, Idaho, resident Wallace Reynalds. “We saw a flash. We didn’t know what it was, and we heard this loud crash.”

The old timbers gave way under the weight of winter’s snows at about 8:30 p.m. No one was inside when the hulking mass crumpled.

Although the flash he saw fostered rumors of sabotage, Reynalds said the collapse most likely caused nearby power lines to spark.

“This monster snowfall we had this last winter dealt a death blow,” Reynalds concluded.

Claudia Childress, a member of the historical society that was hoping to restore the landmark, described the remains as looking like “a bunch of pickup sticks.”

All that’s left standing is an old brick vault.

She’d been concerned earlier in the week when the walls started bulging out under the weight of three or four feet of soggy snow.

“It looked like a pregnant popcorn kernel,” she said. “There was no way to save it.”

No one dared climb atop the ancient structure to try to shovel snow off the rooftop, she said.

The Murray Historical Society had raised $8,000 in its quest to restore the old building, which served as Shoshone County’s original courthouse.

The old structure had seen the likes of Wyatt Earp and Noah Kellogg in its younger days.

“This winter we were just in the study process. We got a small grant and we had public meetings,” said Reynalds, who was also involved in the restoration plans. “That’s all history now.”

Despite the sorry state of affairs, Childress has not given up hope. At next month’s meeting of the historical society, the board will discuss where to go from here.

“They may want to build a replica,” she said.

Now the remains are cordoned off in the hope that no one scavenges the materials, some of which might be used for a replica.

“It is upsetting. We were really excited about this project,” she said. “About 35 years ago it could have been restored easily, but it was in real sad shape. We were just trying to salvage what we could.”

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