The Rhea County Courthouse is a historic county courthouse in the center of

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, the county seat of Rhea County, Tennessee. Built in 1891, it is famous as the scene of the Scopes trial of July 1925, in which

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

John T. Scopes faced charges for including

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

theory A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

in his public school lesson. The

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

became a clash of titans between

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...

for the

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and

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high-profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the ...

for the defense, and epitomizes the tension between

fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguis ...

and

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

in a wide range of aspects of American

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. The courthouse, now also housing a museum devoted to the trial, was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1976.

Description

The Rhea County Courthouse stands prominently in the center of Dayton, on the courthouse square bounded by 2nd and 3rd Avenues, Market Street, and Court Street. It is a three-story brick building with Romanesque and Italianate features. It has a broad hip roof with a low hip-roofed tower at one corner of the main facade, and a taller square tower with an open octagonal belfry above a clock on the other. Some windows are set in round-arch openings. The building interior has many original features, including the main courtroom on the second floor, where the Scopes monkey trial took place.

History

The building was constructed in 1890-91, after Dayton was named the county seat, replacing

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. It was designed by W. Chamberlain and Co., architects from

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, and was built by contractors from

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

. In July 1925, the courthouse was the scene of one of the mostly widely reported trials of the 1920s, the Scopes trial. Essentially cooked up as a publicity stunt by locals after passage of the state's

Butler Act The Butler Act was a 1925 Tennessee law prohibiting public school teachers from denying the book of Genesis account of humankind's origin. The law also prevented the teaching of the evolution of humans from what it referred to as lower orders ...

banned the teaching of

biological evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certai ...

in public schools, science teacher John T. Scopes was arrested and charged with violating the act. The state was represented by renowned orator and fundamentalist Christian icon William Jennings Bryan, and Scopes was defended by an

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...

-funded team headed by noted criminal defense lawyer Clarence Darrow. Although Scopes was convicted in a highly sensationalized trial, the culture clash between legal principles, as well as fundamentalism and modernism left an enduring mark on American society. The defense called Bryan to the stand to defend fundamentalism, and successfully exposed the underlying ignorance of his views. In subsequent years, many states that had enacted similar laws repealed them.

Rhea County Museum

A $1-million project which restored the second-floor courtroom to the way it looked during the Scopes trial was completed in 1979. The Rhea County Museum, also called the Scopes Trial Museum, is located in the courthouse basement and contains such memorabilia as the microphone used to broadcast the trial, trial records, photographs, and an audiovisual history of the trial. Every July local people re-enact key moments of the trial in the courtroom. In front of the courthouse stands a commemorative plaque erected by the Tennessee Historical Commission: The Rhea County Courthouse was designated a

by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

in 1976.

(April 2007). "National Historic Landmarks Survey: List of National Historic Landmarks by State". It was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1972. and On October 1, 2005, a statue of William Jennings Bryan was dedicated on the courthouse lawn, funded by a donation from nearby Bryan College. The statue was placed to commemorate the school's 75th anniversary. On July 14, 2017, a statue of Clarence Darrow was unveiled near Bryan's statue, funded by a donation from the

Freedom From Religion Foundation The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for atheism, atheists, agnosticism, agnostics, and nontheism, nontheists. Formed in 1976, FFRF promotes the separation of church and state, and ch ...

References

External links

*
Rhea County Attractions: Rhea County Courthouse and Rhea County MuseumScopes Trial Museum
- TN History for Kids {{National Register of Historic Places Historic sites in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Rhea County, Tennessee National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee Government buildings completed in 1891 County courthouses in Tennessee Museums in Rhea County, Tennessee History museums in Tennessee Clock towers in Tennessee Scopes Trial Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Rhea County, Tennessee

Description

History

Rhea County Museum

See also

References

External links