My journey exploring Michigan’s courthouses began by impulse. One day I found myself in Elkhart and decided to cross the border and see what Cassopolis, Centreville, and Coldwater had to offer before I headed home on I-69. That spontaneous adventure sparked a deeper interest. Later, trips to and from my family’s getaway property in Missaukee County took me past a slew of courthouses! Of them all, Eaton County’s in Charlotte stands out as one of my favorites.
Eaton County was organized in 1837. Like nine others in the southern part of Michigan, it was named after a member of President Andrew Jackson’s cabinet. In this case, its namesake was John Eaton, Jackson’s Secretary of War1. Imagine that happening today: a Yellen or Mayorkas County? Half the country would take to the streets!
George Barnes, a surveyor, purchased land near the center of the provincial county in 1832 and attempted to designate his homestead as its seat. His effort was ultimately successful, but he sold his holdings to Edmond Bostwick three years later. Bostwick eventually transferred parts of the property to H.I. Lawrence, Townsend Harris, and Francis Cochran.
The trio established a village, Charlotte, which they named after Bostwick’s wife2. Although the community had already been made county seat, it wasn’t until 1840 that county functions were relocated from nearby Bellevue3. Eaton’s first courts were held in the Eagle Hotel.
In 1844, the county accepted a proposal to build a new courthouse. Officials set aside $500 to erect a Greek Revival structure, but the frame building cost nearly twice as much when it was completed two years later4! The courthouse featured a courtroom that measured twenty-four by forty-two feet with an arched plaster ceiling. Wings were later added to expand the space for jury deliberations.
Initially, commissioners were hesitant to accept a bell offered by an Ohio businessman with ties to the area. They worried most county residents lived too far to hear it! However, after a local newspaper editor intervened, officials reluctantly agreed and built a belfry to house the bell5.
Unfortunately, Eaton County’s first purpose-built courthouse was only used for twenty-one years before it was declared unsafe. Officials decamped to Sampson Hall, a new brick building that later served as an opera house, until 1886. That year, a monumental, $71,000 courthouse was completed by architect David Gibbs6.
Gibbs was a prolific architect. In Ohio, he was responsible for courthouses in Marion, Marysville, Napoleon, and Washington Court House. Despite the grandeur of his county buildings, though, Gibbs’ crowning architectural achievement was the 146-foot-tall Wyoming State Capitol completed in 1917.
David Gibbs was an interesting character. Shortly after he finished his midwestern courthouses, he moved to an unsettled part of Indian territory during the Oklahoma Land Run. One of 10,000 homesteaders to settle in modern-day Oklahoma City, Gibbs established a well-known ice cream parlor. Eventually, he was made chairman of the board that organized Oklahoma City’s first election in 1890. Today, he’s recognized as the city’s fourth mayor!
As I said, the man was busy. So much so, in fact, that he tended to economize his architectural practice by reusing his designs. Aside from its materials, the Eaton County Courthouse is nearly identical to those in Ohio’s Fayette and Marion Counties. Facing south, the three-and-a-half story Renaissance-Revival structure measures a hundred and four by ninety-seven feet. The building features a raised basement of rough-cut fieldstone, while its upper stories are composed of striking red brick.
The cornices, porticos, pediments, and tower were all built of galvanized iron, as was common in the 1880s. As usual, its clock tower is my favorite feature: rising thirty-eight feet above the sixty-four foot courthouse, the cupola features a square base, an open belfry, and an octagonal drum and dome. A nine-foot zinc figure of justice stands perched above the proceedings. Below, a rotunda and stained glass skylight flood the courthouse with natural light7.
Earthen tiles and black-and-white marble make up much of the interior. The rest of the building features native walnut and butternut trim, most notably in the old courtroom, which takes up the western half of the structure’s second floor. Toledo artisan Romeo Berra painted its frescoes8.
Unfortunately, the courthouse nearly burned down in 1894. Two theories explain the cause of the blaze: the first puts the blame on workmen using a lamp to burn old paint from the clock tower. Another holds spontaneous combustion accountable! Regardless of its origin, the fire caused significant damage. In fact, local legend holds that its six-thousand pound bell chimed six times for the evening before falling to the ground with most of its roof9! The fire was eventually brought under control, but it took $24,000 to restore the damaged courthouse.
In 1952, a renovation bricked up the building’s west entrance to add a jury room. Twenty-four years later, Eaton County unveiled a sprawling 87,000-square-foot county building on a curving boulevard at the northern edge of town. I didn’t stop to visit, but the modern Eaton County Courthouse incorporates a salient, standalone bell tower. It’s a nod to the history and design of its 138-year-old predecessor which, today, is home to Eaton’s Courthouse Square Museum.
TL;DR
Eaton County (pop. 108,786, 19/83)
Charlotte (pop. 9,242)
5/83 photographed
Built: 1886
Cost: $71,306 (about $2.4 million today).
Architect: David W. Gibbs
Style: Renaissance Revival
Courthouse Square: Shelbyville
Height: 111 feet
Current Use: Non-governmental
Photographed: 4/27/2018
Sources Cited
1 Bibliography on Eaton County (n.d.). Clarke Historical Library. Central Michigan University [Mt. Pleasant]. Web. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
2 Romig, W. (1986). Michigan Place Names. Wayne State University Press [Detroit]. Book.
3 Cole, M. (1974). Michigan’s Courthouses Old And New. Maurice Cole [Oakland County]. Book.
4 Fedynsky, J. (2010). Michigan’s County Courthouses. The University of Michigan Press [Ann Arbor]. book.
5 (See footnote 4).
6 (See footnote 4).
7 Deacon, J. “Eaton County”. American Courthouses. 2008. Web. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
8 (See footnote 4).
9 (See footnote 4).
The 1970’s was a tough decade for old, working courthouses. Fortunately, they kept the building instead of razing it.