First Courthouse / Brooks Memorial Fountain

Calhoun County was established in 1829, made Marshall its county seat in 1831, and built its first courthouse on this site between 1837 and 1840. Designed in the Greek Revival style, the building had a rectangular footprint with four columns on each end. Structural problems became apparent in 1855 when a column collapsed, and in 1872, after county offices had moved to nearby buildings, the courthouse was demolished. The city then repurposed the site into a park with a bandstand and a fish pond. In October 1929, Marshall’s mayor, Harold C. Brooks, announced his gift to the city of an electric fountain in memory of his late father, Charles E. Brooks. Architect Howard F. Young, landscape engineer Herman Swanson, and engineers from General Electric collaborated on the design. At its dedication on April 26, 1930, some seven thousand people applauded with exclamations of surprise and wonderment when the mayor’s son, Craig, turned on the fountain and its multi-colored lights.

Marshall, Michigan · United States