Growing up, I thought each courthouse in Indiana was one-of-a-kind. Unfortunately, I learned my notion wasn’t exactly correct as I began exploring the state. Indiana’s dotted with dozens of Neoclassical courthouses, and each blends into the next! Thankfully, the Vermillion County Courthouse stands apart amidst a sea of sameness because of a peculiar and captivating event that unfolds in front of its steps.
Vigo County was founded in 1818. Counties were laid out over enormous swaths of land in those days, and Vermillion was pried from Vigo’s clutches in 1824. Officials designated Newport as the seat of Indiana’s narrow “shoe string county1” shortly after they bribed the state legislature2. Because of the jiggery-pokery, Newport was never located near the center of population.
Vermillion County’s first courthouse was built in 1824. Measuring just 36 by 24 feet, the modest log structure contained only a room for the jury and a room for the court. When the $345 courthouse was finished, officials refused to accept it. In a dramatic turn, the builder, John Justice, sued the county for his payment. Justice sued the courts! Ultimately, he won his case and recovered every dollar he was owed3.
Vermillion County constructed its second courthouse in 1831, a solid square brick building with a hipped roof. Determined to avoid the troubles of the past, officials closely monitored its construction. Despite their efforts, a devastating fire struck in 1844. The courthouse was swiftly rebuilt, but this blaze marked the beginning of a troubling pattern.
Newport never blew up like many of Indiana’s other seats of government. As a result, the town was established without much firefighting apparatus or infrastructure4. Instead, the community of Clinton grew to become the commercial epicenter of Vermillion County. Twenty miles south, the coal-mining city reached twenty times the population of Newport at its peak! Boosters jealously recognized its status and repeatedly petitioned the state government to move the county seat.
In 1919, a bill to shift the county seat was nearly passed. Fortunately, a compromise awarded Clinton the new county hospital and allowed Newport to keep its status5. The community celebrated this victory, but its triumph was short-lived: in 1923, the 1868 courthouse burned to the ground after lightning struck it overnight. Officials hired John Bayard of Vincennes to design a replacement.
The old courthouse in Newport was a striking brick building with an octagonal belfry. It combined Second Empire features like a mansard roof with Italianate elements such as heavy cornices. That said, Bayard discarded similar plans in favor of the popular Neoclassical style when tasked with designing its replacement. Courthouses of that mode started popping up across Indiana in 1905, but a second wave of Neoclassical buildings opted for more understated facades that eschewed the prominent domes and triangular pediments of earlier examples.
In the 1920s, rural officials and taxpayers preferred designing conventional Neoclassical courthouses due to their relatively low cost6. Bayard’s design fit the bill! Completed in 1924, his Vermillion County Courthouse is awfully similar to the Sullivan County Courthouse, which Bayard completed two years later. It’s also close to Elmer Dunlap’s courthouses in Delphi, Rockport, and Petersburg.
Late-stage Neoclassical courthouses like Newport’s are blocks of offices and courtrooms that surround an interior light well. Unlike many designs that featured a circular rotunda, Newport’s has a square atrium supported by unusual Tuscan columns. Outside, the courthouse design utilizes identical facades set above a rusticated first story.
Most of the building is tastefully adorned with things like a limestone facade, Corinthian columns, and a prominent cornice. Fortunately, its clock faces go a step beyond. Centered within the central bay of each elevation, they’re surrounded by circular stone frames that rise above the building’s parapet. Projecting pilasters anchored by reeded moldings accentuate the affair.
The courthouse received an upgrade in 1996, when officials decided to preserve the building by adding a new roof, elevator, windows, sidewalks, and heating system7. Unfortunately, the biggest threat to rural courthouses like Newport’s is irrelevancy. People are moving away from their far-flung roots to congregate around the biggest cities, and the trend shows little sign of stopping. Fortunately, Vermillion County still has a trick up its sleeve, and the courthouse is the perfect backdrop.
The event is called the Newport Antique Auto Hill Climb, and it’s exactly like it sounds: guys in cars like Model A Fords and Stanley Steamers start at the courthouse and race up an 8% grade south on Main Street towards a finish line 1,800 feet away! Believe it or not, it’s said to be the third-largest motorsports event in the state8! Clearly, there’s still life in this sleepy county seat. I hope the hill climb continues to inject Vermillion County with people to enjoy the great backdrop that its historic courthouse provides.
TL;DR
Vermillion County (pop. 9,418, 79/92)
Newport (pop. 497)
54/92 photographed
Built: 1925
Cost: $358,000 ($4.9 million in 2016)
Architect: John Bayard
Style: Classical Revival
Courthouse Square: Shelbyville Square
Height: 3 stories
Current Use: County courts and offices
Photographed: 3/13/16
Sources Cited
1 Robert M. Taylor, Jr., et al, ed., Indiana: A New Historical Guide, (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1989). Print.
2 O’Donnell, Harold. Newport and Vermillion Township 1824-1924 (reprinted 2006 by the Vermillion County Historical Commission) [Newport]. Print.
3 Biographical and Historical Record of Vermillion County, Indiana (1880). The Lewis Publishing Company [Chicago]. Book.
4 Newport, Indiana. Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map. Sanborn National Insurance Diagram Bureau [New York]. 1927. Print.
5 Enyart, David. “Fires” Indiana County Courthouse Histories. ACPL Genealogy Center, 2010-2018. Web.
6 National Register of Historic Places, Vermillion County Courthouse, Newport, Vermillion County, Indiana, National Register # 07001283.
7 Indiana Landmarks (2013). Vermillion County. Indianapolis. Indiana Landmarks. Web. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
8 “History” The Newport Antique Auto Hill Climb. Newport Lions Club. Web. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
My big memory of Newport when I lived in Terre Haute was all the VX nerve gas stored there. People were simultaneously afraid that it was there, and afraid to move it.
I’d not heard about that!
Wow. Very interesting. I think Fort Wayne had something similar. Maybe some other type of raw material.