Most of my visits to Indiana courthouses took place during the daytime. That was by design, of course, but some of my favorite memories from childhood involved leaving some remote county seat at night to find an illuminated clock tower waving goodbye. An overambitious trip to Dubois County finally allowed me to see one as an adult.
Dubois County was formed in 1818 from parts of Orange, Pike, and Perry. The county’s unique name comes from Toussaint Dubois, a fur trader who commanded part of the Indiana militia in the Battle of Tippecanoe1. The first courthouse, a two-story log structure in Portersville, was completed by John Niblack in 18182.
Portersville only grew to fifty residents. The county seat was moved to Jasper, which quickly surpassed the village’s population3. In 1830, citizens built their own log courthouse, which was destroyed in an 1839 fire4. A replacement arrived in 1845 that measured four bays wide by nine long. It was a wider version of the old Martin County Courthouse with a recessed balcony and a two-story belfry that rose above a shallow, gabled roof5.
The 1845 courthouse saw dramatic growth and ethnographic changes come to Dubois County. Catholics headed to Jasper in droves as the building’s architect, Fr. Joseph Kundek, advertised the area’s opportunities in big-city German newspapers.
The influx of people flying in “like snowflakes6” jumpstarted Jasper’s leap from an agrarian past into newfound prominence centered around the lumber industry. By the turn of the century, new growth had left the old courthouse behind. It’d simply become too small.
In 1894, the Dubois County auditor, engineer, judge, sheriff, and commissioner visited Chicago to witness the Beaux Arts and Neoclassical designs they’d heard rumors about at the Columbian Exposition. After returning home enamored by the city’s vision, it became clear the Greek Revival building’s days were numbered7.
It took fifteen years, but the 1845 courthouse was demolished in 1909. Its replacement, the current structure, was completed two years later. Although officials studied examples of some of Chicago’s most ostentatious architecture, the new courthouse was completed for a paltry $62,179- “Cheap!” In Mad Magazine parlance. Reusing bricks, safes, and a bell from the old courthouse may have helped keep the cost down8.
Despite its frugal design, the 1911 DuBois County Courthouse is still a landmark. The 144×66 foot building is the only one in Indiana designed by Milburn, Heister, & Co. of Washington, D.C.! Its east and west sides are pretty much identical, but the eastern face is considered to be the primary entrance. It features a massive Soldiers and Sailors monument.
Above a raised limestone basement, the structure features the same yellow Huntingburg brick that the courthouses in Petersburg and Boonville employed for their distinctive looks9. Most call the building Neoclassical because of its central block, end pavilions, and triangular pediments. One of the features that stuck out most to me was its gigantic hipped roof. Originally, it was covered in terra cotta tile.
Of course, my favorite part of the Dubois County Courthouse is its clock tower. At a hundred feet tall, it’s relatively short compared to the 235-foot spire of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church five blocks north10. Covered with sheet metal, the tall drum features six-over-six windows facing the cardinal directions and four clock faces.
Believe it or not, the original clocks are still being used today11. I got to see their faces light up after an errant turn took me across the cable-stayed William H. Natcher Bridge toward Kentucky. Luckily, I made it just before sundown. Honestly, I was worried my photos wouldn’t turn out! Dubois County was the second-to-last destination on my county courthouse project, and I’d have hated to have taken photos that I couldn’t use.
Fortunately, they were fine. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the clocks of the Dubois County Courthouse transported me back to my earliest days of being an architecture fan. The longevity of the building and the reassuring presence of its tower reminded me that, while time marches forward, some things will always stay the same.
TL;DR
DuBois County (pop. 45,844, 48/92)
Jasper (pop. 13,380)
91/92 photographed
Built: 1911
Cost: $62,179. ($1.5 million in 2016)
Architect: Milburn, Heister & Company
Style: Beaux Arts/Neoclassical
Courthouse Square: Lancaster
Height: 100 feet
Current Use: Some county courts
Photographed: 11/11/17
Sources Cited
1 Graff, L.W. (1987-1988). TOUSSAINT DUBOIS: POLITICAL PATRIARCH OF OLD VINCENNES. National Park Service History Electronic Library & Archive [Washington, D.C.]. Web. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
2 Enyart, David. “Jasper County” Indiana County Courthouse Histories. ACPL Genealogy Center, 2010-2018. Web. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
3 Wilson, G.R. (1910). History of Dubois County From Its Primitive Days To 1910. George B. Wilson [Jasper]. Book.
4 (See footnote 2).
5 Courthouse History. Keith Vincent. 2018. Web. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
6 “Germans Come Flying Like Snowflakes” German Heritage. Dubois County Museum. Web. Retrieved on September 30, 2019.
7 Indiana Landmarks (2013). “Dubois County.” Indiana Landmarks [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
8 (See footnote 7).
9 Ries, Heinrich. “The Clays of the United States East of the Mississippi River, Issue 11” United States Geological Survey. Government Printing Office [Washington]. 1903. Print.
10 National Register of Historic Places, St. Joseph Catholic Church. Jasper, Dubois County, Indiana, National Register # 80000033.
11 National Register of Historic Places, Dubois County Courthouse. Jasper, Dubois County, Indiana, National Register # 95001538.
