Indiana boasts a rich tapestry of architectural treasures among its courthouses. Unfortunately, Crawford County’s isn’t among them. Completed in 1958, the functional building served its constituents in one of the most rural parts of the state for forty-six years.
Officials established a seat in the village of Mount Sterling after Crawford County was formed in 18181. That year, William Hart and David Miller built a frame courthouse for $195.502. Unfortunately, Mount Sterling wasn’t a great place for a courthouse: early settlers struggled to tap into a safe water supply!
Nearby creeks couldn’t be used because of impurities3, so officials turned their attention to Fredonia. Perched on a high plateau, the rival community already boasted several productive wells. The town became the second seat of Crawford County, and it’s said that citizens removed crucial county documents from the courthouse in Mount Sterling in meal sacks4.
Another community, Leavenworth, was established around the same time as Mount Sterling and Fredonia. Situated northwest of Fredonia on the same bend in the river, it became a pivotal port for goods shipped to places like Salem, Paoli, Jasper, and Bloomington5. In 1835, boosters built a stagecoach line to connect the town to Indianapolis. Five years later, the county seat moved there for the third time in twenty-five years.
The town of English was laid out a year before the seat relocated to Leavenworth. Situated at the confluence of the Camp Fork, Bird Hollow, and Brownstown Creeks, the village was officially incorporated in 1884. After the railroad made its way through town6, it became clear that the riverboats’ peak was coming to a close. In short order, a movement began to relocate the county seat to the new center of commerce in 1893.
Nearly five hundred people signed petitions to move the seat to English, some under duress and coercion. A final tally indicated that 65% of residents voted in favor of the relocation7. After an architect was paid and two acres of land were secured, a special court in Corydon officially awarded English the title of county seat8.
The people of Leavenworth were displeased by the development, but news traveled slowly in the 1890s. Shortly after the decision, a cavalry of ninety-six wagons led by English farmers armed with sledgehammers, derricks, and dynamite made its way to Leavenworth to retrieve the county records9.
The citizens of the former county seat were dumbstruck. They put up little resistance as the troops removed crucial documents from the courthouse there10! After arriving back in English, the posse piled the paperwork inside the stone foundation of the next courthouse, which had already been under construction for some time11.
Designed by Oliver W. Marble, the $48,000 courthouse measured 64 feet square and looked every bit like the old high school in Hoosiers. The building was by far Crawford County’s most impressive structure, but lacked basic amenities like water, plumbing, or central heating12. Unfortunately, it didn’t age well.
Relocating the county government caused English’s population to explode by 53.4% from 1890 to 1900. The town reached an all-time high of 839 people in 1950 when it was clear that the outmoded courthouse needed to go. Officials eventually demolished the structure to make way for a replacement designed by architects Lester W Routt & Associates13.
Completed in 1958, the second courthouse in English was a simple affair. Facing east, the building appears to stand a single story but was built into a hill. The primary entrance is recessed under a central pavilion framed by a pair of lanterns and windows. Two unadorned brick wings extend to the north and south.
The 1958 Crawford County Courthouse is so simple, frankly, because the area it served is impoverished and remote. According to the census, just over ten thousand people live in Crawford County- as many as live in small cities like Peru, Greencastle, Wabash, or Bluffton. Out of ninety-two counties, Crawford ranks 88th in population density, 90th in per capita income, and 89th in median household income.
English is the state’s smallest county seat. None of Crawford County’s incorporated towns reach a population of 1,000. A simple courthouse was all that was needed to administer justice to the rural stretch of land, and that’s what the architects provided.
Unfortunately, putting a county seat near where three creeks intersect was a big mistake. Generally shallow and tame, they could get mean and nasty pretty quickly14. If what we were told in elementary school holds true, we humans consist of eighty percent water. So did the streets of English at times!
The town suffered catastrophic floods in 1959, 1964, 1979, and 1990. Tons of water were deposited in the center of the village, and one flood even destroyed the contents of the county library! Eventually, officials decided to up and move the town15. The process took a decade and $20 million, but most of English was relocated by 1999.
Much of “Old” English was turned into the Lucas Oil Golf Course after a new judicial complex was built on State Road 64. The old courthouse still stands, forlorn and apparently abandoned, at the top of a hill on Court Avenue. When I visited, a tiny old jail stood next door. Just imagine having to spend the night in there after a golf outing gone too far!
TL;DR
Crawford County (pop. 10,438, 86/92)
English (pop. 686)
77/92 photographed
Built: 1958
Cost: $105,851. ($1.2 million today)
Architect: Lester W Routt & Associates
Style: Functional
Courthouse Square: No square
Height: 1 story
Current use: None
Photographed: 4/3/2016
Sources Cited
1 Pleasant, H.H. (1926). A History of Crawford County, Indiana. The Arthur H. Clark Company [Glendale]. Book.
2 Enyart, David. “Crawford County” Indiana County Courthouse Histories. ACPL Genealogy Center, 2010-2018. Web. Retrieved 10/12/2019.
3 (See footnote 1).
4 (See footnote 1).
5 Leavenworth (n.d.). Crawford County, Indiana. Genealogy Trails History Group. Web. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
6 Counts, Will; Jon Dilts (1991). The 92 Magnificent Indiana Courthouses. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. Print.
7 (See footnote 1).
8 (See footnote 2).
9 (See footnote 6).
10 (See footnote 6).
11 (See footnote 1).
12 Indiana Landmarks (2013). Crawford County. Indianapolis. Indiana Landmarks. Web. Retrieved 10/12/19.
13 “Flood-Prone Town Will Move—Uphill: Disaster: The people of English, Ind., got fed up with being washed out. They want a new start in a new location.” The Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles]. September 30, 1990. Web. Retrieved 10/12/2019.
14 “English residents unsold on move to high ground” The Indianapolis News [Indianapolis]. July 18, 1990. 45. Print.
15 (See footnote 14).
This is one I never made it to. And I can’t see a place called Fredonia without thinking of The Marx Brothers and Duck Soup.
I’ve been unable to find any information: is the brick building used as the courthouse in Leavenworth still standing? I visited this weekend and asked at Stephenson’s General Store, but struck out.
I don’t believe so.