Marengo County's Ol' Pocket Watch

Marengo’s “Old” Court House: 

Marengo’s “Old” Court House On Monday, January 13, 1902, the Marengo County Commissioners met to determine the location of a new court house to be built in Linden and to decide how to finance construction. It was decided that warrants (or bonds with interest coupons) would be issued.

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The building was completed with a total cost of approximately $40,000 and the grand new court house opened on October 1, 1903.

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In 1965, as I sat with my baby son and 2-year-old daughter on the curb across the street and watched the court house burn, my mind went back to the first time I ever saw it. The year was 1943 and America was at war with the Axis. We moved to Linden to open a furniture store. It was called the Trading Post and was located just north and west of the court house.

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That meant, from our first days in Linden, the court house was our neighbor. And, a welcoming neighbor it was. It kept us on time with its tower clock chiming the hours loud enough to be heard almost all over town…especially in the summer when everyone had their windows open. Emily Burge

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Every Saturday, horses would crowd into town and tie up at the hitching racks in front of stores… after getting a drink of water from the watering trough at the court house. Emily Burge

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Disaster struck in the early hours of Thursday October 14, 1965 as the beloved old court house caught fire and was completely destroyed.

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The following is an editorial from the Democrat Reporter one week after the fire:

The Clock: 

The Clock At 5 a.m. last Thursday morning, quite a few early risers and restless sleepers heard the old Court House clock toll for an uncounted time. The old bell chimed five times, ringing out the early morning hour.

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Those who heard the clock that final time hold a certain sad note over the rest of us. Now none of Linden’s and Marengo’s mortals will look skyward and hear the time tolled for us. For shortly after 5 a.m. a raging fire devastated the building and the old “pocket watch” for Marengo and Linden came crashing down.

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Those of us who grew up by the clock hardly had a need for a watch, because we could always look out and see the Court House clock.

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As history unwinds its cold, cruel future into the past, the empty feelings will be dulled, but only when the night of death creeps among us will it be forgotten as our time piece.

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We hope the future will be like the past for Linden and Marengo and her citizens as they wind their ways to the center of our county government. Please, let there be a clock atop a tower on Marengo County’s new Court House. Editorial, Democrat Reporter