New Courthouse Forward, Necessary Move - Wyche

The "law of progress, the economic law of usefulness and the unchanging law of obsolescence" were cited here Saturday as being constantly applicable to the forward pace and steadily shifting scene in Spartanburg's growth and expansion.

Speaking during new County Courthouse dedication exercises and in the shadow of a once adequate 1892 built edifice since pushed aside by progress, Federal Judge C.C. Wyche said "this courthouse cost a lot of money but it should be borne in mind that if no building ever became obsolescent so as to give rise for the necessary replacement, if additional facilities were not needed from time to time, our social progress would stop and our economy would be halted in its tracks."

He emphasized that "from one generation to the next families need new homes and from one century to the next new courthouses are necessary to meet the growing needs of an ever increasing population."

The Western South Carolina District jurist reminded that "the world can never be static. It must move forward or backward. We have here (in the new courthouse) a fine example of a forward and necessary move."

Summing up the elation and the sentiment prevalent in the minds of many on Dedication Day, Judge Wyche said, "As we pass from the old to the new, from the days of yesterday to the days of tomorrow, it would not be in keeping with the feelings in our hearts if we did not have a tinge of sentiment, nor would it be natural were we unmindful of both the glory and the greatness of a day that is gone." But, objectively, he underscored, that "our hearts, our eyes and our words turn to the tomorrow and the next day and the next, on through the years ahead."

Judge Wyche congratulated the members of County Board and all others who assisted in the planning and construction of "this magnificent courthouse" which he called "a Temple of Justice."