November 21, 2024

Former Liberty County Courthouse demolished

http://www.cljnews.com

Old Liberty Courthouse site demolished

by Teresa Eubanks, CLJNews.com

BRISTOL – An excavator is shown atop a pile of debris Tuesday where a building once stood that served as the Liberty County Courthouse for two years.  The original courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1940.  It was replaced with a wood frame structure on North Central Street and used by the county until the “new’ brick courthouse went up along SR 20 in Bristol in 1942,  where it remains in use today.

In later years, the old building served as the office for Dr. Manual Lopez, who ran his medical practice there.  After his practice closed, the building housed the Health Department’s Healthy Start program for several years.

County commissioners had discussed what to do with the building before deciding that the aging structure was a safety issue and needed to be removed.  Liberty County Commissioner Jim Johnson said there were no plans for the site for now other than to get it cleaned up.

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