Hill Valley Courthouse
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- "May it stand for all time!"
- —Mayor Hubert, September 5, 1885
The Hill Valley Courthouse and Clock Tower was a structure in Courthouse Square in Hill Valley, California. It underwent several changes over the course of its over 130-yr long history. The most famous event to occur to it was on November 12, 1955 when the clock tower was struck by lightning during an electrical storm, freezing the time on the clock at 10:04pm.
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[edit] Description
The Hill Valley Courthouse and Clock Tower were of a common construction and architectural style seen across the United States in the 1800s and 1900s. It was composed of red brick, concrete, and white trim. Two white cougars flanked the clock. The clock itself used Roman numerals instead of conventional Latin numerals. On each hour, the clock would chime.
[edit] History
The Courthouse was first constructed in 1885. On September 3, 1885, it almost experienced its first hanging by Buford Tannen before Emmett Brown intervened. A ceremony held during the September 5th Hill Valley Festival started the clock at 8:00 pm. It would be completed the following year alongside the Shonash Ravine Bridge project and would not fall under the public's eye until 70 years later at 10:04PM on November 12, 1955. Originally, the tower was simply struck by lightning and the clock rendered useless, but after Marty McFly visited 1955, a experiment involving hooking a cable up to the antenna was created by Doc Brown to send him back to the future.
Over time, many efforts were put into place to restore the clock tower or save the clock tower altogether, particularly by the Hill Valley Preservation Society from the current mayor in office.
By 2015, the Courthouse was altered into a Courthouse Mall and the center grassy square (which had been turned into a parking lot when the Department of Social Services moved into the building) was replaced by a lake that overlain the mall underground.
[edit] Gallery
 The Courthouse and Clock Tower, still under construction on September 3rd, 1885. |
 The clock before being installed. |
 The Clock Tower gets hit by lightning at 10:04 p.m. on November 12th, 1955. |
 The aging courthouse and non-functional Clock Tower on October 25th, 1985. |
 The courthouse was converted into a casino by Biff Tannen in the alternate October 26th, 1985. |
 Marty is nearly the first to be hanged in front of the courthouse. |
