Most places in Indiana are quite content with one courthouse. Not Lake County! Situated next to Chicago, Indiana’s second-largest county by size and population density has a whopping four. The majority of courts and offices are within a sprawling complex near Crown Point, but a superior courthouse built in 1972 stands in downtown Hammond to serve the northwestern part of the community.
Lake County was established in 1837, and Hammond was incorporated in 1883. Although it’s never been county seat, the city grew by leaps and bounds by the turn of the twentieth century. Officials decided to establish a satellite courthouse there and commissioned architect Joseph T. Hutton to design it1. Originally from Canada, Hutton turned in a Richardson Romanesque structure on par with courthouses in LaPorte and Greenfield. Later, he designed courthouses in Lebanon and Kentland. Unfortunately, officials eventually began to look askance at his building in Hammond.
In 1968, sentiment against the sixty-five-year-old courthouse burbled into public discourse when the chair of the Lake County Tax Adjustment Board called it “a disgrace to the city of Hammond,” and said that renovating it would be “as silly as remodeling a secondhand chicken coop2.” It seems that dilapidated stairs and decrepit ceilings were the biggest issues, but officials had their hands tied3. “Why waste thousands of dollars in repairs,” lamented one county commissioner, “to a building that we thought would be torn down sometime this year4?”
“Conditions needing repaired are not the result of negligent maintenance,” the commissioner continued. “They are the conditions of wearing out, necessitating complete replacement. The building has become inadequate. There’s just not enough space. Painting and patching up can be done without too much trouble but that won’t solve the basic problem5.”
The Hammond Times was more blunt in its assessment of the landmark, calling it “tired, stolid, [and] cave-like,” a “dirt-encrusted, tumbledown seat” of government, and “a chunky fortification designed to repel foes6.”
I don’t know that I agree with that, but I wasn’t there. Nevertheless, the newspaper stoked a fire and public sentiment reached peak vitriol. After several attempts at finding and funding a proper site for a replacement courthouse, Crosby Bernard architects submitted a design for one in 19707. A series of delays initially impeded progress, but ground for a new Lake County Superior Courthouse was broken on February 19, 1971.
The million-dollar building was completed the following year. By all accounts, it was an enormous step up from its predecessor, at least in terms of creature comforts. “In the days before the move…officials and employees lived in peril from falling plaster,” The Times piped up. “New offices are spacious and comfortable7.”
Unfortunately, the building represented several steps back from an aesthetic standpoint. The 1972 Lake County Courthouse represents a dramatic architectural departure from Hutton’s landmark. Entrance is gained from its northwest corner by two dual stairways or ramps into a glass-paneled atrium that breaks up precast concrete walls. The entryway leads to administrative offices.
The second story holds two courtrooms, a law library, judge’s chambers, jury rooms, and other auxiliary spaces. Aside from the atrium, the only natural light permitted into the courthouse is via six slit windows on the structure’s eastern side. Positioned just outside the building’s main entrance, the previous courthouse bell serves as an interesting callback to and contrast from the current courthouse.
Unfortunately, the old courthouse -an icon of Hammond for more than sixty years- was unceremoniously demolished in 1973 and is now the site of a parking lot. It’s attractive spot as far as parking lots go, but I’d prefer to see a courthouse there. Of course, I never had to work in it.
A 1977 study by the Public Administration Service of Chicago determined that Lake County should retract its judicial presence by closing down the courthouse in Hammond, repurposing Gary’s into a juvenile court, and moving the rest of everything else to Crown Point8. I’m glad it didn’t happen. It’s hard to say anything nice about the superior courthouse in Hammond, but it helps the city carve out its own independent identity from the rest of Lake County’ communities.
I hemmed and hawed over taking photos of Lake County’s modern courthouses for years, it seems like. I even ignored them during my first trip to the area! Ultimately, I realized that they were nearing fifty years old and that’s the age that the building could be considered for the National Register of Historic Places. Whether we’re talking about the 1903 courthouse or its 1972 replacement, one thing’s for sure: they sure don’t build them like they used to.
TL;DR
Lake County (pop.491,456, 2/92)
Hammond (pop. 80,830)
Built: 1972
Cost: $1,080,000 ($6.2 million in 2016)
Architect: J.T. Hutton
Style: Modern
Courthouse Square: No square
Height: 2 stories
Current Use: Some government offices and courts
Photographed: 5/26/20 and 5/24/24
Sources Cited
1 Howat, Dr. W.F. “A Standard History of Lake County and the Calumet Region” Lewis Publishing Company [Chicago]. 1915. Print.
2 ”E.C., Gary Chambers Rap Courthouse Fund” The Times [Munster]. Sept 20, 1968. Page 17. Print.
3 “County Ponders ‘Mystery’ Ruling” The Times [Munster]. June 25, 1968. Page 1. Print.
4 “Hammond Courthouse ‘Critical’ Needs Asked” The Times [Munster]. April 22, 1969. Page 13. Print.
5 “A Sagging Courthouse Surveys its Destiny” The Times [Munster]. July 28, 1968. Page 23. Print.
6 “Hammond Court Design Weighted” The Times Munster]. September 8, 1970. Page 2. Print.
7 “Welcome Change” The Times [Hammond]. June 25, 1972. Page 21. Print.
8 “Consultants Against New E.C. Courthouse’ The Times [Munster]. Nov 29 1977. Page 15. Print.
