Aside from The Godfather Part II and The Empire Strikes Back, few sequels surpass their original films. The greatest movies introduce us to captivating characters, provocative plots, and stimulating settings. Naturally, that makes it challenging for successors to recreate the same excitement! However, as far as modern courthouses go, Clinton County’s sequel in St. Johns stands out. It’s an exceptional follow-up! Bucking the trend of heartless modern government centers, the building is even more impressive than its historic predecessor.
Clinton County was first created in 1831. Named after early jack-of-all-trades statesman DeWitt Clinton, the county was officially organized in 18391. At first, commissioners rented a courtroom from David Scott. A permanent government building -a two-room office measuring 18 x 30 feet- was built in 1842. Five years later, officials moved to DeWitt Township’s District 6 schoolhouse. The arrangement lasted six years2.
After the courts left the schoolhouse, commissioners rented rooms from Chauncey Lott, C.M. Derbyshire, and the DeWitt Baptist Church. A movement to built an official Clinton County Courthouse began in 1851, but talks soon shifted to relocating the county seat to St. Johns, a centrally-located village on the railroad3. A tongue-in-cheek amendment striking out “Village of St. Johns” for “the Center of Muskrat Lake4” failed, and the seat was moved in 18575.
hat December, the court facilities were removed from DeWitt to Plumstead Hall in St. Johns6. A 20 x 40 foot brick office building was completed in 1859, and the courts moved to rented quarters in Clinton Hall two years later. Eventually, Clinton County grew prosperous enough that everyone recognized the need for a purpose-built courthouse.
The residents of Clinton County raised $5,000 of their own to build a new one, but officials rejected a low bid of $24,000 and wound up supervising construction themselves. By the time the building was completed, its price had ballooned to more than $35,000! As it turned out, building a courthouse was an expensive proposition.
The overrun was worth it, though, since David Gibbs’ courthouse was considered one of the finest public buildings in the state7. A master architect from Toledo, Gibbs was responsible for five Ohio courthouses and two in Michigan. After he designed his courthouses, he moved to Oklahoma to be a mayor and ice cream man. Near the end of his days, he came back to Ohio, where he died right after finishing the Wyoming State Capitol.
Gibbs’ courthouse in St. Johns was one of his earliest and bore little to resemblance to his other works. Rising two stories with a full mansard roof, the early Second Empire structure stood nine bays wide with projecting central and corner pavilions8. Recessed entryways provided access to the courthouse from its west front, and a fifty foot cupola ensured it was a landmark from miles around9.
Clinton County’s growth was significantly fueled by St. Johns’ mint production, which supplied oil for medicine, gyms, and candy10. By the early 1900s, officials saw the need for expansion. Unfortunately, a 1905 vote to enlarge the courthouse failed by a three-to-one margin. It wasn’t until 1958 and 1965 that the building was finally expanded in a process that added a modern entrance and new wings11.
Eventually, Clinton County became a bedroom community for Lansing. As early as the 1970s, officials again needed more space than the hundred-year-old courthouse could provide12! Seven prospective scenarios showed that the venerable structure’s lack of modern amenities and accessibility were too much to look past, so officials decided to demolish it13.
Work started on the new Clinton County Courthouse in 1998. The 117,000-square-foot structure was dedicated on June 22, 2000. The building pays tribute to its predecessor with a modern interpretation of the traditional courthouse design.
The five-story structure features red brick atop a stone foundation, a projecting entrance culminating in a gable above a hipped roof, and two arched ventilation ports reminiscent of dormer windows. Iron cresting atop the roof recalls Second Empire ornamentation.
The courthouse is capped by a 17,000 pound prefabricated cupola built by Campbellsville Industries, which restored clock towers in Defiance, Winchester, Madison, and Crawfordsville. In a fitting tribute, Clinton County’s cupola even includes the clock, bell, and spiral stair14 from its predecessor! The building towers over downtown St. Johns from a vantage point atop the city’s Harrisonburg Square.
The 2000 Clinton County Courthouse contains all of St. John’s city offices as well as those of Clinton County. Originally, officials wondered if an inclusive name like the Clinton County Government Center or Governmental Complex would be appropriate. Eventually, they realized that people were going to call it the courthouse anyway, so they let things be15. In an age of City County Buildings and Justice Centers, it was a refreshing decision! I think the commissioners made the right call.
It was also a breath of fresh air for commissioners to embrace a design that incorporated stylistic cues and actual artifacts from the county’s first courthouse. Comparing the modern Clinton County Courthouse to the 1871 structure is like comparing a cruise ship to a classic ocean liner, but it carries a sense of splendor and tradition that make it a more fitting replacement than any modern courts building I’ve seen in Michigan, Indiana, or Ohio.
TL;DR
Clinton County (pop. 79,748, 25/83)
St. Johns (pop. 7,710)
7/83 photographed
Built: 2000
Cost: $17.4 million
Architect: Wigen, Tincknell, Meyer & Associates
Style: Modern
Courthouse Square: Harrisonburg
Height: 5 stories
Current Use: County courts and offices
Photographed: 4/27/2018
Sources Cited
1 Deacon, J. “Clinton County”. American Courthouses. 2008. Web. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
2 Daboll, S. B. (1906). Past And Present of Clinton County Michigan. The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company [Chicago]. Book.
3 Cole, M. (1974). Michigan’s Courthouses Old And New. Maurice Cole [Oakland County]. Book.
4 (See footnote 2).
5 (See footnote 1).
6 Courthouse History (n.d.) Clinton County [St. Johns]. Web. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
7 (See footnote 2). \
8 Courthouse History. Keith Vincent. 2018. Web. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
9 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Saint Johns, Clinton County, Michigan (1918, January). Sanborn Map Company. Web. Retrived July 12, 2024.
10 Mint in Michigan (n.d.) Michigan State University [East Lansing]. Web. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
11 (See footnote 7).
12 (See footnote 3).
13 New Courthouse (n.d.) Clinton County [St. Johns]. Web. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
14 (See footnote 11).
15 (See footnote 13).
