Circleville, Ohio, is laid out in blocks. You wouldn’t guess it by looking at a map today, but the town got its name from an abandoned Lenape earthwork -an Indian mound- that once measured 1,100 feet in diameter1. Circleville was founded on top of it after Pickaway County was established in 1810. The town’s original layout radiated outward from the center of the mound2.
Circleville’s first courts were held at the Williamson House, a two-story wooden structure also home to the local Masonic Lodge3. The first purpose-built courthouse stood at the center of the circle, at the present-day intersection of Court and Main4. A two-story, octagonal building with a central cupola, the courthouse was constructed in 1814.
Unfortunately, all traces of the Lenape presence in Circleville were obliterated starting in 1837, when citizens petitioned the state government to re-jigger the town’s layout to a more conventional square. It took nineteen years, but the “Circleville Squaring Company5” eventually gave Circleville its modern layout.
My preliminary research indicated that the last remaining part of the original mound was visible at the corner of Pickaway and Franklin streets6. I looked and looked, but it seems to have disappeared in the century since Aaron Van Cleaf wrote his seminal history of Pickaway County. In 1840, the first courthouse disappeared as well.
Surprisingly, parts of the second Pickaway County Courthouse still exist. Completed in 1847, the Greek Revival structure featured a jail in the basement and a fifty-foot clock tower. Officials decided to replace the building in the 1880s, but the citizens of Pickaway County had grown attached to their old courthouse. They didn’t want to see it demolished, so officials pulled a wily stunt.
Commissioners asked the state to appropriate funds to perform a simple remodel of the 1847 courthouse. What they kept secret was that their idea of a renovation was more than just a spit-shine and a new coat of paint. Instead, much of the old building apart from the basement jail was demolished7!
By 1890, Pickaway County had a brand new courthouse designed by Frank Weary and George Washington Kramer. Evidence of the 1847 structure is visible from how the clock tower abruptly interjects with the new building’s central pediment. The old foundation was too weak to support its intended position atop the middle of the roof8.
Several sources disagree with how much of the 1847 courthouse remains behind the stone portion dedicated in 18909. Thankfully, Sanborn fire insurance maps from 1884 and 1889 seem to clear things up. It appears that much of the 1847 courthouse -nearly all of it, in fact, was retained during the construction of the new one. Facing Court Street, the southwest side of the building was the part erected in the 1880s.
In fact, old Aaron Van Cleaf wrote as much in 1906, if I’d bothered to check. “The Court House was enlarged by the addition of two wings and was made a commodious, substantial structure with abundant light and excellent ventilation, convenient in every way for the business of the people10.” A further addition in 1937 extended west
From its inception within the perimeter of a Lenape earthwork to the spurious remodel of its 1847 courthouse, Circleville has an intriguing history. The story of the present courthouse makes it a weird outlier in Ohio’s portfolio, which gives all the more reason to celebrate it. I wish I’d been able to spend more time exploring. I hope my next trip coincides with some better weather!
TL;DR
Pickaway County (pop. 58,457, 45/88)
Auburn (pop. 13,965).
Built: 1889
Cost: $104,420 ($2.94 million in 2016)
Architect: Frank Weary and George Washington Kramer
Style: Richardson Romanesque
Courthouse Square: No square
Height: 90 feet
Current Use: County offices and courts
Photographed: 11/2/2019
Sources Cited
1 Hurt, R. Douglas. “The Ohio Frontier: Crucible of the Old Northwest, 1720–1830”. Indiana University Press [Bloomington]. 1998. Print.
2 Van Cleaf, Aaron R. “History of Pickaway County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens”. Biographical Publishing Company [Chicago]. 1906. Print.
3 Courthouse History. Keith Vincent. 2018. Web. Retrieved 10/20/20.
4 “History” Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office. Web. Retrieved 10/20/20.
5 “History of Circleville”. City of Circleville. Web. Retrieved 10/20/20.
6 (See footnote 2).
7 Pickaway County Courthouse (n.d.) See Ohio First. Ohio Humanities [Columbus]. Web. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
8 “Pickaway County Courthouse” Ohio History Connection Selections. Ohio Memory. Web. Retrieved 10/20/20.
9 Deacon, J. (n.d.) American Courthouses. Web. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
10 (See footnote 2).
Now you’re in my neck of the woods! I make it to Circleville periodically but have never been inside this one. I should do something about that!
I’d love to hear you describe its interior! I’ve only been to forty of Ohio’s courthouses, but haven’t been back in a couple years. I hope to change that! I haven’t posted about them all yet, but some of them just off of I-70 are breathtaking.
I will see what I can do.
You know, this courthouse is just up the road from a Hopewell ceremonial earthwork that’s now an UNESCO world heritage site. I shared your story on Facebook today and one of my friends who is ranger at this place tells me that Circleville was built on a Hopewell mound. So there’s a cool connection! Here’s a story.
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1689/