I work on the southeastern side of Anderson, Indiana. My commute takes me straight past the Madison County Government Center, built in 1972 to replace a landmark courthouse in the heart of downtown. It’s a striking structure, but my thoughts always turn to Clinton County as I pass. That’s because the old building’s twin still holds court in Frankfort.
Madison and Clinton Counties are contemporaries, founded in 1823 and 1830. Clinton County officials first met in Matthew Bunnell’s cabin in the town of Jefferson1. Residents hoped their town would become the county seat, but Jefferson was too far east to be practical. John Pense owned land in the middle of the county and offered to donate sixty acres and $100 if officials platted the seat on his farm2.
Undeterred, Jefferson boosters hatched a plan to add part of Tippecanoe County to Clinton to centralize their town’s location. Nearly everyone in the strip signed Abner Baker’s petition, but things went awry. Through some mysterious twist of fate, the petition never made it to the state legislature! Frankfort was founded on Pense’s land, and Jefferson dried up3.
Clinton County’s first purpose-built courthouse stood on the square in Frankfort, just four miles from its predecessor in Jefferson. The clapboard-sided log structure lasted seven years until officials hired John Elder to design a two-story building in 18384.
By 1880, the population of Clinton County had more than doubled. Officials knew they needed a new courthouse but feared a backlash from their stingy constituents5. Eventually, the population grew too much to ignore, and commissioners hired architect George Bunting to draw up plans for the county’s third courthouse.
The old courthouse was sold at auction in 18826, and the cornerstone for Bunting’s monumental structure was laid that September. Despite political squabbles involving the perceived quality of the building’s cement7, the new courthouse was completed in 1884. Bunting finished its double in Anderson the following year.
The two buildings were nearly identical, but instead of brick, the oolitic limestone veneer of Clinton County’s added almost $30,000 to its price tag8. The pair were designed in the emerging “county capitol” style, which featured symmetrical designs, central clock towers, and “modern English and Italian features9.”
I was in a rush the first time I went to Frankfort, but I passed through town last month when I was on the prowl for AT&T Long Line towers. I’d never realized how tall the building is. At 165 feet, the Clinton County Courthouse dominates downtown! The building is part of a group that stands just shy of the ten tallest in the state and it looks as close to my ideal version of a county courthouse as any I’ve encountered.
The clock tower has a smooth base with a highly-embellished square pavilion, and the clocks sit within projecting, pedimented bays framed by narrow windows. I can’t remember where I heard this, but it seems that the tower’s circular dome was replaced in 2002 and sports a recreation of the building’s original lantern.
The roofline of the Clinton County Courthouse is perhaps its next most prominent feature. It features a dense, contrasting parapet, but larger-than-life allegorical statues stand on stepped pavilions at each corner. Central pedestals above the east and west entrances of the courthouse feature similar towering figures.
The main bulk of the courthouse extends three stories atop a raised basement. The basement and first floor are faced in smooth-cut stone, and the second and third stories feature central Corinthian pilasters supporting pediments with narrow windows and arched transoms. Monumental stairways provided access to the building’s first floor until the 1950s when they were removed to provide easier access to its old basement.
Unlike many historic courthouses since relegated to simpler tasks, the Clinton County Courthouse remains home to the county’s circuit and superior courts today. Locals take a lot of pride in the upkeep of their 140-year-old structure, but seeing the courthouse is like stumbling upon a reincarnated piece of the past for people closer to Anderson. The diverging stories of the Madison and Clinton County Courthouses are a testament to the intricate dance between preservation and progress.
TL;DR
Clinton County (pop. 32,916, 50/92)
Frankfort (pop. 16,249)
27/92 photographed
Built: 1882
Cost: $200,000 ($4.95 million in 2016)
Architect: George W. Bunting
Style: Neoclassical/Italianate
Courthouse Square: Shelbyville Square
Height: 165 feet
Current use: Courts and some county offices
Photographed: 8/20/15
Sources Cited
1 “A century of progress; an account of the Clinton county centennial with a general review of the past century” (1930). The Morning Times [Frankfort]. Print. Page 54.
2 History of Clinton County, Indiana (1886). Inter-State Publishing Company [Chicago]. Book.
3 Enyart, David. “Clinton County” Indiana County Courthouse Histories. ACPL Genealogy Center, 2010-2019. Web. August 11, 2019.
4 (See footnote 3).
5 Indiana Landmarks (2013). Clinton County. Indianapolis. Indiana Landmarks. Web. Retrieved 8/4/19.
6 Claybaugh, Joseph. “History of Clinton County, Indiana: With Historical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families” (1913). A.W. Bowen & Company [Indianapolis]. Print. Page 119.
7 (See footnote 6).
8 (See footnote 3).
9 (See footnote 6).
