Courthouse History
The county seat at Nephi needed a courthouse. Reportedly, the first such building was located on the corner of First North and First East; later, in 1883, a more substantial structure was planned for the corner of Main and Center Streets. The building was constructed at about that time, with a later addition to the rear in 1937.
The Deseret News of 24 July 1897 featured a sketch of the courthouse prominently pictured in a full-page article on the "History of Nephi City." The courthouse was part of a county complex for the site. In back of the courthouse, Juab County officials erected the county jail in 1892 Records indicate that on 13 July 1892 a contract was awarded to the Pauley Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, Missouri, to construct the jail. Juab County records stated;
Said Pauley Jail Building and Manufacturing Company agreeing to put up an entirely new jail at Nephi and remove the iron cages in the present County jail at Nephi to Eureka and place said cages in proper working order in the building to be erected [there] by Juab County for the above sum. All work to be done in accordance with plans and specifications approved by the County Court.
The jail was a two-story, rectangular brick building on a sandstone foundation with a hip roof. A concrete, basement-level heating plant was added in about 1915. Architecturally, the structure exhibits nice detailing on the exterior. Brick arches over the windows and doors and bands of corbeled brick below the eaves adorn the edifice.
This old county courthouse at Main Street at Center now houses the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum. Built 1892 with 1937 addition This building was the former Juab County Courthouse erected in approximately 1884. It was completely remodeled and opened as a museum in 1992. The address is 4 South Main Street, Nephi, UT.
Today's Juab County Courthouse is located almost two blocks north east at: 160 N Main St, Nephi, UT.
Waymarker for the Juab County Jail
Juab County Jail
Built by the Pauley Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, Missouri in 1892, the Juab County Jail played a central role in county law enforcement activities. Located adjacent to the county courthouse in Nephi the building served as a territorial jail until Utah was granted statehood in 1896. It was the principal jail in the county until March 1974, when the Tri-county Detention Center was opened in Nephi. The Juab County Jail, with its two story hight and intact interior, is one of the largest and best-preserved late nineteenth-century jails remaining in Utah.
This block rectangular building with a sandstone foundation and hip roof exhibits typical Late Victorian detailing such as the brick segmental arches over the windows and doors and the band of corbelled brick just below the eaves. The only significant alteration is the c. 1915 addition of a concrete, basement-level heating plant and accompanying large brick chimney attached to the north side of the jail. The top of the chimney has simple geometric designs in cast concrete, reflecting the Prairie School of architecture that was popular during the early twentieth century.
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