Rhea County Courthouse
The current 1891-era courthouse on the square in Dayton, Tenn., is the county’s second brick courthouse. The first was built in the Old Washington community northeast of Dayton nearer the Tennessee River in Rhea County. That courthouse replaced the first one, a log or wood-framed building.Source: Rhea County Historical and Genealogical Society
If you go
The Rhea County Historical and Genealogical Society will host visiting state historian Carroll Van West at its meeting set for 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 15 in the General Sessions Courtroom at the Rhea County Courthouse, 1475 Market St.
DAYTON, Tenn. - A Tennessee lawmaker is working to get funds to repair the slate roof on the historic 125-year-old Rhea County Courthouse where the "Scopes Monkey Trial" played out.
State Rep. Ron Travis, R-Dayton, said the time to do the repairs is before ongoing leaks do more damage, and he believes he can get Gov. Bill Haslam to put it in his budget for the next fiscal year.
"We've got to start from the top and work our way down," Travis said of the estimated $200,000 in work needed to replace what is believed to be the original slate roof from 1891.
The roof must be leak proof before the rest of the building is protected from the elements, he said.
Travis said the project is as important to Tennessee and U.S. history as it is to the history of Dayton and Rhea counties.
From July 10 to July 21, 1925, the Rhea County Courthouse was the stage for the famous Scopes Evolution Trial, in which John Thomas Scopes, a Dayton high school teacher, was tried for teaching that human beings evolved from a "lower order of animals," according to the historical account by the Scopes Trial Festival.
Scopes was convicted and fined $100, but on appeal the decision was reversed by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1927. The court case, commonly referred to as the "Scopes Monkey Trial," raised debate on issues such as separation of church and state, academic freedom and the relationship between science and religion.
In 1977, the National Park Service named the courthouse a National Historic Landmark, a somewhat rarer designation than being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to which it was named in 1972.
Landmarks are "nationally significant historic places" that "possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States," according to the National Park Service.
Of more than 85,000 National Register of Historic Places listings, which identifies historic places worthy of preservation, only 2,500 of them have received the landmark designation.
In 1979, the courthouse was restored to its 1925 appearance, but almost 40 years have passed since then.
Today, the famous courtroom is much as it was in 1925. Some of the rear gallery seats were recently placed on risers to improve the view from the back. The judge's bench, defense and prosecution tables and oak railing are original, said Rhea County Historical and Genealogical Society president Tom Davis.
Davis said the courthouse has remained in good shape for its years of constant use. It still houses the county's circuit, chancery, juvenile and general sessions courts. Alongside the roof project, officials will partially fund related repairs and restoration with $6,700 earmarked for that work.
"Right now, our concern is missing mortar in the brick," Davis said. Water damage continues to be a nagging problem coming from the aging roof.
Standing at the rear corner of the large courtroom where the historic trial took place, Davis pointed upward to water damage on the 22-foot-high interior wall.
"Without a good roof, we're in trouble," he said.
Davis said the County Commission has a list of recommendations to study for future uses of the building, like a performance venue and a county records archive. The courtrooms will be moved when a new jail and justice center is opened in the former Rhea Medical Center campus on Rhea County Highway.
A repurposed courthouse could become a destination for visitors, he said.
"It's Rhea County's crown jewel," Davis said.
Maintenance supervisor Tom Brady, 66, said he remembers the roof being old when he was a child growing up in Dayton just a street or two away. He now maintains the building that is nearly twice his age.
"There's been a few pieces replaced," Brady said, looking down on the old slate roof from the cupola where the recently restored bell is mounted to strike the hours for the courthouse clock.
"When I was a kid I never dreamed this is where I'd be when I retired," the 20-year veteran employee said looking out over his hometown.
Travis said he's "98-percent sure " he can get the roof funding as the state's budget season gets rolling.
"I feel good about it," he said.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.