In Jasper County, Missouri, rivalry among Joplin, Carthage, and Webb City in the 1890s led to a bitter dispute over where the county courthouse would be built, with Joplin and Webb City refusing to be taxed for a courthouse in Carthage and leaders of Carthage and Joplin even coming to physical blows before a compromise produced two courthouses. The cornerstone of the Joplin courthouse was laid on May 8, 1894, during an elaborate ceremony attended by 15,000 people, with fifty-one organizations in the parade, until a sudden spring thunderstorm broke up the festivities, and the courthouse was formally dedicated in April 1895. Designed by Joplin architect William B. Rees, the brick and limestone building measured 58 by 78 feet at ground level, with a corner tower 92 feet tall, and showed a typically Victorian style in its asymmetrical shape, towers, mansard roof, and finials. The imposing structure barely survived into the 20th century, as a disastrous fire on June 13, 1911, began at 2:30 p.m. when a can of disinfectant exploded in the basement and quickly devoured the building. Insufficient water pressure prevented firefighters from containing the blaze, and county officials saved records by throwing them into a vault before leaping from a second-floor window. The building was declared a total loss at 25,000, and nothing remains of the 1894 Joplin courthouse except its cornerstone.