Read time: 7 min.

Morgan County is all about the mineral water. In 1887 workers hit it while drilling for gas just east of downtown Martinsville. Their exasperation soon turned to optimism when scientists tested the stuff- in their view, it had healing properties! Although the last sanitarium closed in 1971¹, reminders of the area’s heritage are easy to find. Some aren’t pleasant, but the Morgan County Courthouse has stood as a silent witness to them all for a very long time.

In 1888, a small bathhouse that consisted of a steam room and pool was built where the workers had drilled. Martinsville’s population doubled over the next twenty years as more than twelve sanitariums opened up, all advertising the purported health benefits of their special water. Although officials who platted Martinsville in 1822 had no idea of the prominence it would play into its later history, the town quickly became one of the three most patronized “mineral water health resorts” in the nation²!

Early on, Martinsville had a clear advantage over other competitors for the title of county seat: it sat at the center of the county near the White River in an area with enormous quantities of clay and timber³. In 1824, officials built a 25×35 foot log courthouse to move out of Jacob Cutler’s house⁴, and a second followed twelve years later. The current courthouse dates to 1859. It’s one of eight pre-Civil War courthouses still standing in Indiana.

Architect Isaac Hodgson was responsible for the building. As was common practice in those days, he reused his Martinsville design for the 1861 Jennings County Courthouse in Vernon. It’s nearly identical, but both are unique for two big reasons: the first is that they are the only two complete examples of Italianate courthouse architecture in Indiana. The second reason the buildings are so peculiar is that both combine the county sheriff’s house, the county jail, and the courthouse all into one structure- something that can’t be found anywhere else in Indiana. In many ways, the buildings were the precursor to today’s consolidated justice centers!

I wondered what that weird little house on the front of the courthouse was when I first went to Martinsville, but suffice it to say that neither sheriff nor prisoners live there today. The building has been subjected to other substantial changes over its lengthy lifespan, however: although the courthouse originally featured a cruciform plan, minor additions and renovations were made to its exterior in 1895, 1912, and 1934⁵. In 1956, two small, flat-roofed additions were made to the building’s northern and southern sides. An enormous expansion in 1976 added an eleven-bay facade that comprises the entire eastern elevation of the structure⁶. All the changes have made the building’s original layout tricky to decipher.

Despite the deluge of changes, the five-story freestanding belfry of the courthouse has seen more than a century of changes in Martinsville, from its earliest days as a pioneer outpost and the lavish wealth the mineral water era brought to the extension of I-69 through town. The courthouse has also seen Martinsville work through its complex history of race relations and controversy. In the 1920s, the city was a hotbed of Ku Klux Klan activity- in 1925, there were 1,600 members in Morgan County alone, representing a not-insignificant 8% of the the county’s total residents! Though Klan activity fell sharply by the end of that decade, Martinsville retained a reputation as a “sundown town,” despite its mayor urging residents to “disregard and ignore” the arrival of the Klan as part of a multi-city march in 1967⁷.

Even so, Martinsville’s reputation came to the forefront again when 20-year-old Carol Jenkins, a black woman in town from Rushville to sell encyclopedias, was stabbed in the heart with a screwdriver just a year after the Klan march came through town⁸. Despite pleas from Jenkins’ stepfather, who insisted that local police bring in the FBI to investigate the murder given the city’s reputation, local officials apparently refused to take action⁹. Although a lucky break in the cold case proved that Kenneth Richmond of Hendricks County was the murderer, Martinsville’s reputation has persisted: as of the most recent census, only 1.6% of the city’s population, 180 people, are black.

I’m not qualified to speak on racism’s lingering impact, but Martinsville isn’t unique in its struggles. Despite the efforts of city officials to dispel its negative reputation, African Americans still described the place as a “sundown town” as recently as 2017¹⁰. Martinsville hasn’t experienced the same prolific growth of other county seats in the donut around Indianapolis have in recent years, and maybe its history is why. If I-69 doesn’t change this, I’m not sure what will.

Reminders of Martinsville’s mineral water glory days are everywhere. For starters, the roof of the 1866 Union Block building on the courthouse square features a landmark sign that promotes the town as “MARTINSVILLE CITY OF MINERAL WATER¹¹.” If that wasn’t enough, Martinsville High School’s sports teams are called the Artesians. I’m a huge fan!

Unfortunately, while it may have helped minor ailments, it takes more than artesian mineral water to heal racial divisions like those experienced in Martinsville’s past. Hopefully, the Morgan County Courthouse will continue to stand as a landmark beckoning people of all races into a welcoming present and future rather than as a prominent signpost that warns people to stay out.

TL;DR
Morgan County (pop. 69,782, 25/92)
Martinsville (pop. 11,855)
47/92 photographed
Built: 1859. Expanded in 1956 and 1976.
Cost:  $32,000 ($852,000 in 2016)
Architect: Isaac Hodgson
Style: Italianate
Courthouse Square: Shelbyville Square
Height: 80 feet
Current Use: Courts and some county offices
Photographed: 3/12/16- 47/92

Sources Cited
1 Ksander, Y. “Martinsville Sanitariums” Moment of Indiana History. Indiana Public Media. June 19, 2006. Web. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
2 “National Sanitarium At Martinsville Known Over Nation As Health Resort” The Indianapolis News [Indianapolis] April 7, 1930. 20. Print.
3 Blanchard, C. “Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana: Historical and Biographical. F.A. Battey & Co. [Chicago]. 1884. Print.
4 Enyart, D. “Morgan County” Indiana County Courthouse Histories. ACPL Genealogy Center, 2010-2018. Web. June 18, 2019.
5 National Register of Historic Places, Morgan County Courthouse, Martinsville, Morgan County, Indiana, National Register # 95001531.
6 (See footnote 4).
7 Higgins, W. (2017, November 3). Martinsville tries to remake its racist image decades after the murder of Carol Jenkins. The Indianapolis Star. Web. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
8 Terry, D. “34 years later, sad secret surfaces” The Chicago Tribune [Chicago]. May 12, 2002. Web. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
9 Hewitt, B. “Slow Justice” People [Des Moines]. July 15, 2002. Web. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
10 King, R. “They’re bridging a racial divide” The Indianapolis Star [Indianapolis]. April 2, 2017. A2. Print.
11 National Register of Historic Places, Martinsville Commercial Historic District, Martinsville, Morgan County, Indiana, National Register # 98000300.