More than any other, the 1816 Harrison County Courthouse in Corydon defines the spirit of Indiana’s earliest governmental buildings. That’s because it was one! The 40×40 foot stone structure served as the courthouse from 1816 to 1921, but it’s more famous for its nine-year tenure as the state’s first capitol1.
Harrison County was organized in 1808. Corydon came four years earlier, when William Henry Harrison, the hugely influential territorial governor and future president, purchased land adjacent to Indian Creek2. The city became one of the most prominent stops on the road to the territorial capital of Vincennes in short order. It supplanted Vincennes as capital in 1813 after Harrison’s opponents clamored for a centralized location away from his direct control.
Officials relocated to the log cabin that served as Corydon’s first courthouse, but Indiana became a state in 1816. The milestone meant that a proper capitol was necessary, so Harrison County officials converted the stone structure they’d built to be a courthouse into a statehouse3.
In 1817, officials built a brick county office building at the northwest corner of Walnut and Elm Streets4 that still stands as a home. The arrangement lasted until 1825 when the state government moved north to Indianapolis.
Fortunately, Corydon didn’t abandon its old capitol just because the state government skipped town. It was still the Harrison County Courthouse, after all, and the locals needed to be governed. Unfortunately, the courthouse was a small building- 3200 square feet. That’s about the size of a well-equipped Starbucks! A new county office building -two brick stories with a cupola- was completed in 18825.
Thirty-five years later, state officials returned to town. Their intent wasn’t to relocate the capital back from Indianapolis but to buy the old statehouse to preserve it as a museum. As part of the deal, Harrison County was given four years to vacate the building and secure a new courthouse6.
Trials probably took place at the office building until 1929, when Harrison County’s current courthouse was built. Officials didn’t want the new building to overshadow its diminutive predecessor, and the yellow-brick structure is one of the simpler courthouses in the state7. Unfortunately, the county office building was gaudy and sat right next to the old statehouse. It was demolished.
Today, the 1816 statehouse in Corydon is preserved as part of the Corydon Capitol State Historic Site. I’ve been past it several times, but never when it was open. That’s a shame, since visitors gain insights into early Hoosier history and can even see a copy of the 1815 census that helped propel Indiana toward statehood.
The building’s role as the Harrison County Courthouse might be forgotten by most of us today, but it stands as a testament to Indiana’s humble beginnings and the enduring importance of Corydon in the state’s history.
TL;DR
Harrison County (pop. 39,163)
Corydon ( pop. 3,119)
Built: 1816
Cost: $3,000 ($42,216 in 2016)
Architect: ?
Style: Federal/Coffee Mill
Courthouse Square: Shelbyville
Height: 40 feet with cupola
Current Use: Non-governmental
Sources Cited
1 Enyart, David. “Harrison County” Indiana County Courthouse Histories. ACPL Genealogy Center, 2010-2018. Web. Retrieved 4/29/20.
2 Frederick P. Griffin. The Story of Indiana’s Constitution Elm, Corydon, Indiana, June 1816. [Corydon]. 1974. Print.
3 (See footnote 1).
4 “First State Office Building. Indiana Historical Bureau. Indiana Department of Natural Resources [Vincennes]. Web. Retrieved 4/29/20.
5 Bulleit, Francis A. (1906). Illustrated atlas and history of Harrison County, Indiana. W. Wangersheim, Inc. [Chicago]. Map.
6 (See footnote 1).
7 Indiana Landmarks (2013). Harrison County. Indianapolis. Indiana Landmarks. Web. Retrieved 5/6/20.
