Michigan’s courthouses have a unique character that often stands in stark contrast to those in my home state of Indiana. When I first laid eyes on the Montcalm County Courthouse in Stanton, I realized just how different they could be! The building’s blend of Beaux-Arts, Georgian Revival, and Neoclassical elements sets it apart from the more common architectural styles I’m used to seeing back home- along with the modern buildings so frequently found in the Great Lakes State.
Montcalm County was formed in 1831. It was attached to St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Kent, and Ionia Counties for administrative purposes until 1850, when it was finally organized on its own. At first, the legislature designated the community of Greenville as county seat1.
In time, the state instructed commissioners to figure out a place to permanently put the courthouse. To retain its status as the county seat, Greenville residents persuaded officials to annex part of Mecosta County. I’m not sure how that would have worked, but the plan failed. Voters selected a proposed settlement at the county’s center as the new seat. Fred Hall, who owned the land, sold it to the county. In his honor, the town was named Fred2!
The first courthouse in Fred was a modest frame building constructed by Joseph Shoemaker in 1861. Just two years later, Hall decided to change the town’s name. When he applied to establish a post office, he chose “Stanton” in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of War. In 1863, the county seat officially took its new name3.
Seth Sprauge built a fireproof courthouse for $1,500 in 1870. Two stories with external stairs, the second courthouse only lasted for nine years before Stanton offered county officials $10,000 to build a more elaborate structure. A vote passed by impressive margin and Montcalm County’s third courthouse, a tall building with a thin spire, was completed by Jacob Consul in 18814.
The third courthouse featured brick and stone walls that concealed fire-resistant vaults. The vaults came in handy on February 16, 1905, when a blaze gutted the courthouse. The building’s brick ruins stood for five years while people bickered over proposals to rebuild5, but voters finally approved a new courthouse in 1910. Rising two stories atop a raised basement, architect Edwyn A. Bowd’s buff-colored brick structure was completed in 1911.
The fourth Montcalm County Courthouse is a simple, Beaux-Arts building with Georgian and Neoclassical influences. Built for a modest $58,280, it combined the need for a stately government building with the necessities of a limited budget. Rectangular in plan, the flat-roofed courthouse sits on a smooth, sandstone foundation and features a pedimented portico supported by paired Ionic columns. An entablature with a cornice supported by block modillions features prominently below the building’s parapet6.
I haven’t been to all of Michigan’s courthouses yet, but to me, the Montcalm County Courthouse most resembles Edwyn Bowd’s design for the Wexford County Courthouse in Cadillac which was completed in 1913. Both look like pumped-up Carnegie Libraries! What separates Stanton’s version from Cadillac’s is the house-like addition that’s home to the county’s Michigan State University Extension office. From what I’ve read, I believe it’s the old county sheriff’s residence built when the courthouse was put up7. At some point in modern history, the buildings were connected.
It wasn’t until I circled around the southwest side of the courthouse that I even noticed the extension office. Coming in from the north on M-66, what immediately caught my eye were the grand columns and the stately portico! That’s usually how I spot the courthouse in a new county seat- it’s a simple trick: just head downtown and look for the biggest, most ornate building around.
Unfortunately, Stanton tricked me. I didn’t realize this at the time, but Montcalm County’s courts vacated the 1910 building more than twenty years ago. In 2002, a new courthouse designed by Wigan, Tincknell, Meyers & Associates was completed about a mile north of the historic structure8. From what I’ve seen, the L-shaped building looks every bit like an elementary school.
Today, the historic Montcalm County Courthouse remains in use as the Montcalm County Administrative Building. Perched atop a hill just west of downtown Stanton, it completely dominates what little skyline stands! The building’s classical design gives it a timeless presence that many of its contemporary counterparts -including its replacement- completely lack.
More than a century after it was built, the old courthouse remains a proud symbol of Montcalm County’s history. It’s a reminder of an era when courthouses were designed with an eye towards dignity and permanence.
TL;DR
Montcalm County (pop. 69,009, 27/83)
Stanton (pop. 1,382)
15/83 photographed
Built: 1910
Cost: $58,280
Architect: Edwyn Bowd
Style: Beaux Arts
Courthouse Square: Shelbyville
Height: 2.5 stories
Current Use: County offices
Photographed: 4/29/2018
Sources Cited
1 Fedynsky, J. (2010). Michigan’s County Courthouses. The University of Michigan Press [Ann Arbor]. book.
2 Cole, M. (1974). Michigan’s Courthouses Old And New. Maurice Cole [Oakland County]. Book.
3 Romig, W. (1986). Michigan Place Names. Wayne State University Press [Detroit]. Book.
4 Deacon, J. “Montcalm County”. American Courthouses. 2008. Web. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
5 Courthouse History. Keith Vincent. 2018. Web. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
6 Eckert, K. B. (Montalcum County Building (Montcalm County Courthouse). SAH Archipedia. SAH [Chicago]. Web. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
7 Court Houses of Montcalm County. (n.d.). Montcalm County MIGenWeb [Stanton]. Web. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
8 (See footnote 4).
