Video: Grant To Aid Courthouse Rebuilding

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WALTHALL, Miss. (AP) – Webster County has been awarded a $500,000 grant to preserve its nearly century-old courthouse that was damaged by fire early this year.

The award was made Oct. 25 by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Board of Trustees. The money will pay for stabilization of the courthouse walls and reconstruction of the roof.

The Webster County Courthouse, in the tiny town of Walthall, was built in 1915. The two-story, neo-classical style structure was one of the first buildings in Mississippi to be designed by Jackson architect N.W. Overstreet.

Sheriff Tim Mitchell told county supervisors that an electrical short started the fire before dawn on Jan. 17.