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Appalachian Law:
The County Courthouses of West Virginia
Philip Smith - Photographer
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Click on photo for larger version. Hold mouse over photo for name of County.
About The Project
I love West Virginia. I was born in Charleston and raised on the family farm in Uler, WV in the county of Roane (I am the sixth generation Smith son to be raised on that farm). My dad started taking me at a very young age to visit the high country of WV from Greenbrier County up to Tucker County and even took a couple of trips to Harpers Ferry and the eastern panhandle. He took me to several places in the state growing up that most of my friends had never heard of. I was taught early the heritage and traditions of our culture and have a great passion for it. While the cultures and traditions vary to extremes from one end of the state to the other we are all proud of our state and even though the grits eatin', southern drawl of southern WV is in stark contrast to the yankee talkin' folks of northern WV there are still commonalities that we all share. I find that in my travels that most West Virginians have no concept of life at the opposite end of the state from where they live. Even though I'm still young (28 years old) I find that my generation and those younger know little to nothing about the heritage of our state and it's unique places and beauty. Case in point; one day I was working near Wellsburg in Brooke County with a fellow that was about my age. Small talk had led to a point in the conversation when I told him that I had been working in Mingo County the day prior and his response to that was "Mingo, why that's just across the river from here." The poor guy had never even heard of Mingo County, yet I'm positive he knew all the counties of eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Where did our education system fail him? I've got lots more stories where that one came from too. The cosmopolitan experience of many West Virginians is [insert hometown here] and Myrtle Beach. That is very sad.
I've been traveling across the state for work and pleasure for quite a while now. The jurisdiction of my day job covers all 55 counties of WV and that is the greatest benefit to my job. I've seen places and met people in WV I would have never had the opportunity to without this job. Even though the pay stinks, the trade-off has been worth it...at least for a while. One day in 2004 my mom, dad and I decided to go on a day trip from their home in Spencer to do some photography in the Philippi area. We hit the nail on the head and got to the famous covered bridge right as a baptism was taking place in the Tygart Valley River flowing underneath the bridge. Creek baptisms are an integral part of the culture of WV...I was baptized in a small creek that flows up my holler near Uler. Capturing WV culture on film is a great passion of mine. After a break I began contemplating my fortune in getting to see so much of the state and how lucky I was to do so. I tried to think of a way to capture on film the essence of the experience and make a challenge of it. The one landmark that each county shares is a county seat and therefore, a courthouse. Many of our courthouses are architectural wonders and steeped in history. So the challenge was laid forth and Barbour County became my first county courthouse photo.
The project took 14 months to complete, and shouldn't have taken that long. You see, I visited many county seats over that span on days that I stupidly forgot to bring my camera with me...so I had to make return trips. I think I was at the Webster and Logan County courthouses 3 times each before I got pictures of them. Some of my favorites are the Berkeley, Cabell, Doddridge, Marion, Randolph, Ritchie, Upshur and Wirt courthouses. Something about the towers or on those and others that are amazing. Some leave little to be desired in terms of aesthetics...Roane, Clay, Logan, Grant, Mason, Ohio etc. The 1950's box buildings are ugly in my opinion. I wonder if there exists a contractor or architect today who has the aptitude to again construct a building that has an ounce of pageantry to it. I was subpoened to testify in a trial in Fayette County once and was shocked to see that the tin ceilings in the witness room had been concealed by a cheap drop ceiling. What is the matter with us? The real shame is those that have moved or lost to fire. For instance, the old Grant County courthouse is an awesome piece of architecture, but the new one complete with it's corny cursive writing looks like a booger. The history of some courthouses requires you to pause and imagine yourself back in time. I tried to imagine myself being in a frenzied crowd outside the Jefferson County courthouse in 1859 at the hanging of John Brown. I tried to imagine myself on my way to do business in downtown Welch on an August day in 1921 and witnessing Baldwin Felts agents shoot down Sid Hatfield on the McDowell County courthouse steps in cold blood. This place is awesome. If you haven't seen all of WV then what are you waiting for? Make it your resolution to take yourself and your children or grandchildren someplace new in WV this year. There's so much to see and so little time to see it. This truly is Almost Heaven and you are committing a crime by not exploring the grandeaur and subcultures of this great state.
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