A log cabin that served as Jasper County, Missouri’s first courthouse in the 1840s will be disassembled, moved to the Red Oak II complex near Carthage and reassembled.
The Joplin Globe had the story:
Jonathan Sheldon and Larry Sernyk, an Indiana man who owns several properties at Red Oak II, reached an agreement recently that allowed Sernyk to buy a log cabin that served as Jasper County’s first courthouse in 1841. It will be moved to Red Oak II, where Sernyk plans to restore it and open it to the public.
“I spent a lot of time finding the right person and right place, and thankfully Larry surfaced,” Sheldon said. “It wasn’t on the National Register of Historic Places, so I knew if I wanted to tear it down, I could, but what a shame to see something like that turned into rubble. I have a relative who got me in contact with Larry Sernyk, and he is disassembling it and rebuilding it.”
“That’s the goal … to try to make it look like it did in 1841. I’m really passionate about saving the past. Lowell taught me that,” he said, referring to Lowell Davis, the late Carthage artist. “I bought some of my property at Red Oak in 2004 after I met Lowell. I’m really passionate about saving the past for people to enjoy.”
The old courthouse west of Carthage more recently had been an outdoor supply store, Old Cabin Shop.
Red Oak II northeast of Carthage consists of a Phillips 66 service station, schoolhouse, feedstore, diner, town hall, jail, blacksmith shop, general store and other vintage buildings — several of which were picked up and hauled from Davis’ nearby hometown — plus a smattering of Davis’ whimsical sculptures. The original Red Oak lies about 20 miles east of his re-creation.
Red Oak II sits about a mile north of Route 66. It’s a popular side trip for many Route 66 travelers, mostly because of its unique nostalgia angle.
Davis died in 2020 at age 83, but his widow and other caretakers carry on taking care of the complex.
(Image of the Old Cabin Shop, formerly the Jasper County Courthouse, near Carthage, Missouri, via Facebook)