COUNTYWIDE : Courthouse Will Be Put to Use Again

No one really knows who murdered Walter and Beulah Overell.

What is known is that on March 15, 1947, they met a sudden death when their 47-foot yacht--the Mary E--exploded around 11 in the morning.

Thirteen sticks of unexploded dynamite were found on the cabin cruiser moored in Newport Harbor. The rest had gone off, leaving the Overalls dead.

A few days later, the socialites’ daughter, Beulah Louise Overell, and her lover, George (Bud) Gollum, were formally accused of doing away with the couple in a sensational case which focused the country’s attention on sleepy Orange County.

The high drama had everything--steamy love letters being passed between the couple’s jail cells, charges of revenge and finally a verdict of not guilty. As the prosecutor told the jury, “We had lust, we had greed, we had frustration. Ladies and gentlemen, these are the raw materials of which murders are made.”

This small slice of Orange County’s past was played out in Department One of the Old Orange County Courthouse--just one piece of the 90-year-old building’s past steeped in history.

“People usually are surprised that Orange County has such a long and exciting history,” said Marshall Duell, historic resources planner for the county. “They usually don’t think that such a building would exist in Santa Ana.”

In 1901, the $117,000 courthouse officially opened. Its dedication was marred by tragedy when a balloonist fell to his death during the ceremonies.

Today, the red sandstone building, the oldest existing courthouse in Southern California, is a state historic landmark and is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places. For three years, it has been open to the public for tours, during which visitors can learn about the trials that took place in the courtrooms, see pictures of the courthouse being built and learn how Orange County grew up.

It has been several years since the courthouse has been used by the general public, but that is about to change.

Construction crews are busy renovating the bottom two floors to make room for county offices. Tours have temporarily been suspended until the construction is finished sometime in March.

The Orange County Historical Society and the Pacific Coast Archeological Society also will have offices in the building and maintain various historical information, including county documents and records.

With a large homeless population living around the building, opening the historic site has worried some people. “It certainly is a concern,” said Don Dobmeier of the Orange County Historical Commission about the people who live in nooks and crannies around the Civic Center.

It wasn’t until the late 1960s that trials were no longer held at the courthouse. It was shut down a decade later when seismic tests found it to be unsafe. After remaining closed for nearly 10 years, it reopened to much fanfare in 1988 with $4.4-million worth of reinforcement, enough to withstand a major earthquake. It also had a museum that celebrated 100 years of Orange County history.

Department One, the original courtroom with its oak judge’s bench and jury box, has been preserved and looks almost the way it did 90 years ago. Law books, stamped Department One, still may be found in the judge’s chambers just to the left of the courtroom. The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling use both gas and electricity. Besides an occasional wedding, the only drama that goes on there today is make-believe. The courtroom is used by movie crews.

But the Hollywood glitter does not dazzle those, like Dobmeier, who worked to keep the courtroom’s history alive. The building’s importance, he says, is its past, because “it is not every day that people can see a restored courtroom.”