McKinley County - Gallup District Court - Eleventh Judicial District

Facts about the Historic Courthouse

“The historic McKinley County Courthouse at 201 W. Hill Ave. was designed and built in 1938 by the architectural firm of Trost and Trost of El Paso, Texas, in the ‘picturesque’ Spanish Pueblo Revival Style with typical stepped-back Pueblo massing.

The bell tower has battered walls and vigas. Upper stories contain wooden caged projecting bays and stylized vigas, with vertical indentations allowing for windows. Posts, wood beams and corbels define the main entry flanked by incised stucco Indian-motif reliefs.”

“The McKinley County Courthouse, itself a New Deal Arts Project, houses 19 pieces of New Deal art, and murals, tile work, lamps, and furniture by New Deal artists and crafts workers grace the courthouses interior.” (www.co.mckinley.nm.us)

“Inside the lobby, Indian motifs are featured in the tile wainscoting, lettered signs, pendant lighting fixtures, and Pueblo-style paintings on the plaster walls, all set off by hand-made wooden furniture and oil paintings by New Mexican artists.

The second-floor courtroom has ten-foot murals depicting the history of McKinley County which were completed by Lloyd Moylan in 1940 and restored in 1991.” (www.co.mckinley.nm.us/courthouse_project.htm)

The murals depict the “History of the Gallup Region.” They were restored in 1991. Gallup had one of the largest WPA art collections in New Mexico. A small WPA display remains on exhibit at the main library.