City Hall and Court House, Covington

The view “is an accurate delineation of the City Hall and  Court House in Covington.  It stands on Greenup, corner of Third Street.  It was erected in 1843.  The architecture,  it will be observed, is of a pleasing and substantial character,  and it has a fine effect from the luxuriance of the surrounding foliage.” from Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, circa 1860

A history of this building is here.

The Old Kenton County Courthouse
removed in 1900

	City Building	City Hall	Court House	City Hall
all c. 1910

 

Courthouse, c. 1950
From a Facebook post by Ben Shipe

 

1907	1908	1907

City Hall / Court House 

A short article published in 1875, when the building was being erected, can be read here. (pdf)

“Completed in 1879 at a cost of nearly $300,000, it is in the Gothic style, and handsomely built of Indiana
limestone with Buena Vista sandstone trimmings.  In its construction
materials from 15 states, and five kinds of marble were used.”
King's Pocket Book of Cincinnati, 1880

Court House in 1937 Flood	Kenton County Court House	Kenton County Court House

“John Anderson, Covington's 'galloping nudist,' arrested Thursday night at Second and Johnson Streets in a shirt and a pair of socks appeared before Judge Joseph P. Goodenough, Covington Police Court, this morning in a pair of gift overalls, and was fined $10 and costs on a drunkenness charge. Anderson, semi-nude in his cell, was unable to stand trial yesterday because of an existing court tradition requiring defendants to wear pants.” Kentucky Post, July 7, 1934

Covington's Mayor Foley tries Plan B on his court ruling.

1966

Kenton County Courthouse Notice the edge of the Traction Building on the far right hand edge.   Thanks! to Regina Stewart for this image.		to Mr. Harry Kolassa, 254 Lewis St, Buffalo, NY.  “Hello Harry, Don't get sore because I am sending  you picture of the PO.  Just here for the day. John Handel.”

This is a shot from the top of the Suspension Bridge in the 1937 Flood. We've included
it here so you can get a feel for where the US Post Office (images are below) and
the old courthouse (images above) stood in reference to other locations.

1890	1876	1950	1908

The Post Office
Opened in 1876, on Scott, between Market and Third

“Hereafter the Covington Post-office will be opened at half-past six o'clock A.M. and closed at half-past six o'clock P.M.  On Sundays. the office will kept open from nine o'clock A.M. to ten A.M.”  Cincinnati Enquirer May 8,1866 (150 years ago and earlier, it was common for PO's to have Sunday hours - it was a separation of church and state thing.)

Here's a history of the Covington Postal Service, from 1937.

“Last month, the letter-carriers of Covington delivered 21,950 letters, 3,669 postal-cards, and 12,693 newspapers; and collected 8,812 letters, 1,391 postal-cards, and 1,036 newspapers.” Courier-Journal, December 10, 1875, reprinting an item from the Covington Commonwealth.

1910	1914	unknown year

 

1912	1917	1918

 

Early postcards of the Covington Government Building, (Post Office), c. WWI

 

Covington Post Office, c. 1880
From a Facebook post by Will Lack

 

1903  “The only public building in the country which was erected in the appropriation price.” True, but then, there's this.	A sketch by Caroline Williams, 1968

 

Post office truck and employee in Covington
From a Facebook post by Wayne Best, of his grandfather, Cleophus “Sully” Sullivan

 
 

Courthouse and US Post Office
built in 1938

 

Liberty, a sculpture by Romuald Kraus, stands in the south end of the Covington Federal Building.
More on Kraus and his sculpture at this site.

 

Police Station construction, 20th and Madison
From a Facebook post by Ray Hadorn

 
Licking Valley Register, January 17, 1846

 

Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, September 1, 1901

 

The Public Library, 1939
A Carnegie Library, it was Covington's Library  from 1904 to 1972, and
 includes a theatre in the back.  It's currently the Carnegie Arts Center.

The Covington Social Library was incorporated in 1839.

 

The Original Floor Plan of the Carnegie Library

“Covington, Ky., Feb. 19. - The library board met Thursday and fixed upon Wednesday,
March 16, [1904] at  1 o'clock, as the date for the public opening for inspection of the
 new library and auditorium at Scott and Robbins Streets.”

 

	c. 1900	c. 1910-1915
All, c. 1910-1915
Here's the Library's application to be on the National Register of Historic places, complete with photo's, history, and maps.

 

The Covington Branch of the Kenton County Library is officially named the Mary Ann Mongan Branch, named for its long-time librarian. Read about Ms. Mongan here.

 

Water Filtration Plant, 1939 & 1957			Incinerator, after the 1937 Flood. It was damaged by being rammed by a steel barge, and a floating tobacco warehouse. And a map of where the incinerator was.

 

Covington City Water Works,
1885

The Final Report (pdf) of G. Bouscaren, Chief Engineer of the Covington Waterworks, from 1891. It's 173 pages. The Covington Waterworks started with a pumping station on the Ohio in Fort Thomas, pumped water uphill to a reservoir in Fort Thomas, and down the hill and across the Licking to Covington.

 

The IRS building in Covington was opened on May 15, 1967. The City of Covington released pictures of the interior of the building before it was torn down. They're at the site of the Northern Kentucky Tribune.

“The Jail at Covington, Ky., was recently destroyed by a mob, in order to release one of the prisoners.” Plymouth (Ind.) Pilot, June 4, 1851

“There was great excitement in the Covington (Ky .) City Council on Thursday night, which resulted in a fight between the Mayor and the President of the Council. They were each fined $2.50 and costs.” Weekly Vincennes News, December 9, 1857

Covington judge has an opinion on marrying a man for the fifth time.

“William Timberlake was released from the Covington jail on Saturday on bail, and the first thing he did after getting out was to hunt up one of his friends, named Paddy Nolan, and give him a whipping for not visiting him during his incarceration. Timberlake is under indictment for highway robbery, and will probably be tried at the next term of the criminal court. He was arrested for the assault on Nolan and again lodged in jail.” Courier-Journal, March 17, 1871

Cincinnati Daily Gazette, January 25, 1862

 

IRS site. After the IRS, before whatever's next

 

A proposal for the old Covington IRS site, 2022
The news release.