Look straight ahead at this massive five-story peach-colored concrete building, featuring a geometric stepped-back shape and a dark metal sculpture perched right above the towering central glass entrance. Leaving the Proto-Cathedral of St. James the Greater behind, we arrive at our final landmark, the Clark County Courthouse.
This sleek Art Deco masterpiece, with its towering vertical lines and geometric massing, is the defining legacy of architect Day Walter Hilborn. He designed it to be the absolute pinnacle of southwest Washington's built environment. But bringing a monument like this to life was a massive, unexpected battle. Originally, federal New Deal programs, which were government initiatives meant to boost the economy during the Great Depression, were supposed to foot the bill. But suddenly, those funds were slashed. The county was left holding the bag for a whopping five hundred forty-six thousand dollars, which is roughly twelve million dollars today. Local taxpayers had to scrape together the funds themselves to finish this monolithic structure. It was an enormous financial sacrifice to build their community.
And you see that metal sculpture above the doors? That is the Buckskin Brigade, depicting an Iroquois man and two trappers. The original was actually poured directly into the concrete wall itself. In nineteen seventy-eight, a disastrous power-washing attempt completely crumbled the original artwork. Salli Hilborn, a relative of the architect, called it a foolish mistake, and citizens had to launch a years-long grassroots campaign just to cast the metal replica you see today.
Yet, the most chilling chapter of this building's story is its opening day. Governor Arthur B. Langlie dedicated this courthouse on November twenty-ninth, nineteen forty-one. Thousands of locals gathered in a spirit of triumph to celebrate their hard-won civic centerpiece. Exactly eight days later, the attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into the Second World War. The trajectory of this community, and the very lives of those who just stood cheering on these steps, were altered forever.
As we stand before Hilborn's monumental achievement, let the weight of that history settle in. Gather your thoughts as we prepare for some final reflections on everything we have explored today.
