At the head of Court Street next to the Catholic cemetery, J.F. Chillis began building Trinity County’s first courthouse in 1852. The twenty by sixty structure was three stories in 1853, and the Trinity Masonic Lodge bought the third floor from the county for $500. By 1860, the building was deteriorating. In August 1865, the county bought Henry Hocker’s building. In September 1866, a fire began in the Catholic Church and spread quickly to the old building, and John Martin bought the lot on November 3, 1866.