Faulkner Fought to Preserve Courthouse

 

In 1947 William Faulkner wrote a letter to The Oxford Eagle arguing for preservation of the Lafayette County Courthouse.
Faulkner hoped this Oxford landmark would not meet the fate of the old Cumberland Church, which had withstood the 1864 burning of the Square, but “wasn’t tougher than the ringing of a cash register bell” and had been ruthlessly torn down in later years.
Mad as hell, he went on to say: “They call this progress. But they don’t say where it’s going; also there are some of us who would like the chance to say whether or not we want the ride.”
The Lafayette County Courthouse was designated a National Historic Place on September 23, 1977.
John Cofield is a HottyToddycom. contributor and one of the area’s foremost folk historians.