Most county courthouses look like what they are: square, sturdy and a little plain. The Fulton County Courthouse in Hickman is different. With four turrets that rise into spires, it looks like something out of a storybook, sitting on the highest bluff in town above the Mississippi River.
The courthouse dates to 1903, according to newspaper accounts from the time it was remodeled. When the building was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, the write-up described its towers and gables as “like a crown on the forehead of the bluff.” It is hard to put it better than that.
A river town’s seat of government
Hickman sits on the west side of Fulton County, right on the river, while the city of Fulton sits on the east side along the Tennessee line. One thing that sometimes confuses visitors: the city of Hickman is in Fulton County, and it is not the same place as Hickman County, whose county seat is Clinton.
Both the county and the city of Fulton are named for Robert Fulton, the steamboat pioneer. That fits a place whose history has always been tied to the river and the trade that moved along it.
Kept in use, kept with care
The courthouse has been remodeled more than once over the years, including a major renovation in the early 1990s. Through it all, it has stayed a working building where county business gets done every day, and it keeps its clock tower and castle look.
Because it sits up in a residential area and is partly hidden by trees, some people drive through Hickman and never notice it. Next time, take the turn up the hill. The view of the building, and of the river below, is worth it.
Got a question about how Fulton County government works? Send it to news@southwestky.com.
Sources: Kentucky Kindred Genealogy, citing the Paducah Sun and the National Register nomination, ExploreKYHistory.
Photo: The Fulton County Courthouse in Hickman. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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