Marshfield Seat of Webster County Welcome to Marshfield, county seat of Webster County, located in southwest Missouri. Marshfield uses a mayor and board of aldermen form of government. Webster County operates under an elected county commission. City business is conducted from the city hall building located at 798 S. Marshall in Marshfield. County government offices are housed in the Webster County Courthouse, located in the center of the public square in Marshfield. Webster County was created by legislative act on March 3, 1855. Formed from portions of Greene and Wright counties, the county was named by Col. John F. McMahan. McMahan was then the representative of Wright County who introduced the legislation to form Webster County. McMahan was given the honor of naming the newly formed county, which he named Webster, in honor of Daniel Webster's Marshfield, Mass., homestead. A land donation made for that purpose by William T. Burford, his son B. F. T. Burford and his son-in-law Constantine F. Dryden determined the location of the county seat. The 60 acres the three donated is now a part of the city of Marshfield. The first county court session predates even the earliest building built specifically to house Webster County court proceedings. The first session was held May 21, 1855, in Hazelwood. Hazelwood was located approximately four miles northwest of Seymour and 12 miles southeast of Marshfield. The first county officials were appointed in that first session. The current courthouse building is the third since the organization of Webster County. Built in 1939, the Carthage Stone building has just undergone extensive exterior and interior renovation, including the addition of an elevator for easier handicapped access to the upper levels. The original courthouse was a two-story log building completed August 7, 1857. In November 1860, the county court ordered a new courthouse to be relocated to the center of the public square. Due to the onset of the Civil War, however, that order was never carried out. The log courthouse was accidentally burned by Federal Troops in 1863, and a replacement building was not completed until January 19, 1870. The second building was located on the current courthouse site. The building was damaged by the tornado of 1880 that destroyed the second floor. Repairs were made and the building continued to serve the county until it was razed and replaced with the current structure in 1939. The Webster County Courthouse is the third since the county was formed. The structure was constructed in 1939 of Carthage marble. County offices actually started moving out of the second structure after the building was condemned by an engineering firm in 1930. The present day Webster County Courthouse is a four-level structure, which houses county offices, a museum of Webster County History and the Webster County Sheriff's Department and Jail. The basement level of the courthouse houses the Webster County Museum. Items of historical interest involving Webster County are included in the collection. The ground or main level of the courthouse is home to several county offices, including the county clerk, treasurer, recorder, tax collector, coroner and meeting room of the County Commission. Also housed on the building's main floor is the headquarters of Zone 10 of the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop D. Troop D patrols an 18 county area, including Webster County. The second floor of the courthouse is the location of the County Courtroom. Also housed on the second level are the support offices for the court. The upper or fourth level of the structure is the home of the newly renovated Webster County Sheriff's Department and Jail. In addition to dispatching deputies and handling some dispatching for the Marshfield City Police Sheriff's dispatchers will handle dispatching for the county's 911 emergency system. The system is currently in the implementation stage. The jail has housing capacity for 18 inmates. The courthouse grounds feature veterans war memorial, honoring those soldiers killed in battle, and a scale model of the Hubble Space Telescope, invented by Marshfield native Edwin Hubble.