It may not always seem like it, but the midwest is home to lots of courthouse relatives. Some, like those in Preble and Williams County, Ohio, are siblings designed by the same architect. Others take it a step further: Wyandot County, Ohio, and Marion County, West Virginia, have courthouses so similar that they might as well be twins! Architects Joseph Yost and Frank Packard were responsible for both buildings, completed six years apart.
I don’t make it to West Virginia often -maybe five times in the past two decades- but six years ago, a cousin’s wedding gave me the perfect excuse to check out some of the state’s courthouses. The variety was impressive, but the Marion County Courthouse really caught my eye. Its striking resemblance to the Wyandot County’s in Ohio made it stand out even more!
Many West Virginia communities are older than the ones I’m used to in Indiana, but Marion County isn’t. It was split from nearby Monongalia and Harrison Counties in 1842. The county took its name after General Francis Marion, often known as the “Swamp Fox” of the American Revolutionary War1. Fairmont, founded as Middletown in 1818, became the first county seat. The city owes its modern name to its perch above the Monongahela River2.
At first, local officials met at William Kerr’s home before they decamped for Fairmont’s Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1844, Daniel Thompson built a brick Greek Revival Courthouse for $3,1513 that featured a portico and louvered belfry4. The courthouse stood for fifty-three years until an armed mob of eighty people destroyed it to force the county to build anew5!
What remained of the courthouse after the whiskey-fueled attack was finally torn down in 18976. The courts moved to the Cunningham and Manley Building downtown while officials hired Yost & Packard of Columbus, Ohio, to design a replacement. The team was responsible for four courthouses across the country, but J.W. Yost designed six more on his own. Frank Packard concentrated elsewhere, but claimed another for himself. The two were prolific.
Bids for the Marion County Courthouse project opened three years after Yost & Packard finished work on the Wyandot County Courthouse in Ohio, and it appears as though the architects reused their plans. Both buildings are rectangular, two-story Beaux Arts structures with raised basements distinguished by their monumental porticos and dome.
Facing southeast, the front entrance of the Marion County Courthouse is approached by a grand staircase adorned with metal lamps and stone balustrades. A hexastyle Corinthian portico caps its main entryway. Supported by fluted columns, the portico features an entablature with pieces carved by W.D. Priest that represent justice, power, agriculture, and mining7. An eagle with outstretched wings plays prominently at its apex.
My favorite part of any courthouse is its tower, dome, or lantern. A small dome above a tall drum is what dominates Marion County’s. From the outside, the drum is square, with four pedimented sides that feature heavy ornamentation and four clock faces. Above everything, a figure holding the scales of justice rises above downtown. Inside, an inner dome with a sixteen-panel glass skylight that hovers above a two-story rotunda. Most of the courthouse’s offices connect to the rotunda by barrel-vaulted hallways that contain twenty-five coffers, nine of which feature stained glass8. Running north-south and east-west, they correspond to the building’s three porticos.
Many of those features can also be found in the twin courthouse located in Wyandot County. However, the Marion County Courthouse differs from its counterpart due to its setting. The Wyandot County Courthouse is surrounded by an expansive green in a quaint downtown where no building exceeds three stories. In contrast, the Marion County Courthouse is situated on a typical city block, bordered by seven-story buildings and a modern justice center completed in 19829.
The Marion County Courthouse stands out for other reasons. I’ve only been to seven of West Virginia’s fifty-five counties, but Marion’s is the only Beaux Arts courthouse I’ve come across in the state. Some even call it the finest example of the style among all of West Virginia’s courthouses10! Nevertheless, I’m excited to decide for myself. It’s been too long since I’ve been to the Mountain State. I’m itching to go back and see the rest.
TL;DR
Marion County (pop. 55,952, 11/55)
Fairmont (pop. 18,242)
Built: 1900
Cost: $130,643
Architect: Yost & Packard
Style: Beaux Arts
Courthouse Square: No square
Height: 80 feet
Current Use: County offices and courts
Photographed: 4/23/2018
Sources Cited
1 Dunnington, G. A. (1880). A History and Progress of the County of Marion, West Virginia. George A. Dunnington [Fairmont]. Book.
2 Kenny, H. (1945). West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning. The Place Name Press [Piedmont]. Book.
3 Deacon, J. “Ohio County”. American Courthouses. 2008. Web. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
4 Courthouse History. Keith Vincent. 2018. Web. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
5 National Register of Historic Places, Marion County Courthouse, Fairmont, Marion County, West Virginia, National Register # 79003149.
6 (See footnote 3).
7 (See footnote 5).
8 (See footnote 5).
9 (See footnote 3).
10 (See footnote 5).
