Yamhill County Courthouse

In December 1846, Joel Perkins, founder of Lafayette, laid out the townsite and persuaded the House of Representatives of the Provisional Government to declare it as the seat of Yamhill County.

In the years 1846–50, the various courts were convened in a large, unused room in Hawn's tavern, since there was no courthouse existed.

There was a dispute regarding the original sale of lots in 1850 for the first courthouse, and the county was threatened with a lawsuit relating to a cloud in the title of property purportedly owned by one Bartlett Whitlow.

For example, a September 1883 entry reads, The Sheriff be and hereby is directed to remove the pump from the well at the courthouse and have a good and sufficient curb windlass rope and bucket placed therein.

Sebastian Brutscher, one of the county commissioners, protested the partial payment to the contractor for construction activities during the fall 1888; he strongly believed that the actions taken to build the new structure and relocate to McMinnville were illegal.

[citation needed]The old courthouse in Lafayette was donated to the Evangelical Church and was used as a seminary school until 1900, thereafter serving as a broom factory.

"[citation needed] Tales of a "midnight" horse ride by McMinnville citizens to "steal" all official county records and other assets and remove them to the new building arose within a few decades, but contemporary newspaper articles indicate the move was done in a peaceful manner in broad daylight, albeit under guard.

By the mid-1950s, water leaks in the roof and resultant dry rot threatened the building's structural integrity, and caused electrical problems.

Maintenance costs for the building were reaching new highs, and county citizens eventually approved a $1,000,000 bond for construction of the present structure in 1959.