LAKEPORT >> A new exhibit on the history of crime in Lake County, “Crime and Punishment”, is open for the summer at the Historic Courthouse Museum in Lakeport. For over a century the brick courthouse served as the county seat and Superior Court before being dedicated as a museum in 1978. Criminal and probate cases that dealt with property or money under a certain dollar amount were heard in the lesser courts, known as Justice Courts, while the most serious crimes were heard at the county Superior Court. With the creation of this new exhibit, stories of stagecoach robbers, a notorious sneak thief and a gang of murderous miners can now be explored in the same building where their sentences were handed out.
Curator of the Lake County Museums Antone Pierucci and his staff worked for months combing through the historic records of the county’s court. These documents detailed the workings of the early Lake County justice system. In addition to new information, these records helped paint a clearer picture of Lake County’s most famous outlaw, Buck English.
While myth surrounds this figure, a much more practical portrait is painted in the exhibit.
“One of the tales of Buck English is that he killed a man at the Middletown Skating Rink,” said Pierucci, “but the reality is, we have no solid evidence of that, and it probably was just one of those stories that grew up around the man in later years.”
While putting to rest some of the grander notions of this Lake County figure, the staff at the museum were able to find some of the lesser-known, but equally fascinating criminals. The records of George Coburn read almost like a modern-day sitcom. A notorious sneak thief, Coburn pilfered goods from many of Middletown’s citizens. Eventually, a cache of his stolen goods was discovered, which included hundreds of items he had “collected” over the years. A wagon was required to transport the stolen goods to the courthouse in Lakeport where the trial was held.
Found guilty, Coburn never served his sentence, choosing instead to escape jail. Reading about the ensuing chaos of his escape alone is worth a trip to the museum.
Also included in the exhibit is a collection of objects used both in the courthouse as well as by Lake County law enforcement. These objects were pulled from the Museum’s collection and private loans from locals whose own family histories date back to the wilder days of the county’s past.
“This is the largest and most detailed temporary exhibit the museum has ever researched and it will be the new standard moving forward,” said Pierucci.
For additional reading, two new books are available for purchase at the Museum’s gift shop; Black Bart, the Poet Bandit by Gail L. Jenner and Lou Legerton, and Wells Fargo Detective, a biography of James B. Hume by Richard Dillon.
“Crime and Punishment” will run until October, when it will be taken down and replaced by an exhibit on the political history of Lake County.
The Historic Courthouse Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m .and Sundays noon-4 p.m. Admission to the Museum is free, however, a suggested donation of $2 for adults and $1 for children is recommended. The Museum can be reached at (707) 263-4555, and is located at 255 N. Main St. in Lakeport.
