Read time: 6 min.

If I had my way, each historic courthouse built between 1827 and 1940 or so would have been designed to accommodate every possible shift in population. Whether by tunnels, tubes, or carrier pigeons, they’d be big enough to hold every conceivable office and court! Unfortunately, reality doesn’t work that way and many of the courthouses I’ve visited have been added to. I’m fascinated by how they connect and blend with their additions, and I’ve inadvertently captured a few examples.

I hated courthouse additions when I first started taking photos of the historic buildings nearly fifteen years ago. To me, most of the expansions diminished their grandeur by failing to match their style, scale, and sense of proportion. Over time, though, my perspective has shifted. Additions, and the ways they connect, reflect on how our courthouses have evolved to meet the changing needs of their communities. That’s important, and here are eight examples.

Winchester, Indiana’s Randolph County Courthouse

Some recent courthouse expansion projects feature simple brick connectors. Indiana’s 1877 Randolph County Courthouse underwent an enormous renovation and expansion that concluded in 2011². It’s hard to see in this photo, but a narrow brick hallway -a vertical band, essentially- connects the sympathetic addition with the original structure.

Centreville, Michigan’s St. Joseph County Courthouse

A few courthouses feature additions that don’t fully integrate with the original structure. A striking example of one is the St. Joseph County Courthouse in Centreville, Michigan, which was built in 1900. A modern addition known as The Courts Building was completed seventy-five years later⁴. The minimalist edifice connects to the historic courthouse via a second-story skyway.

Lima, Ohio’s Allen County Courthouse

Ohio’s Allen County Courthouse offers another example of a historic building linked to a modern justice center by means of an elevated walkway. Built in 1884, the courthouse predates the new County Justice Center by nearly a century⁵. The skyway -simple and effective- allows the two buildings to retain their forty-foot distance while maintaining necessary connectivity.

Cassopolis, Michigan’s Cass County Courthouse

Instead of brick, frame, and skyway connections, many expanded courthouses incorporate glass atriums. Michigan’s Cass County Courthouse exemplifies the trend as an early example. Built in 1899, the building was deemed a fire trap in the early seventies⁶. A three-story glass hyphen connects the county’s modern annex to the original courthouse, which is now abandoned.

Fowler, Indiana’s Benton County Courthouse

In 1995, Benton County officials hired Pyramid Architecture/Engineering to complete an 8,000-square-foot addition⁷ to the rear of their 1874 courthouse. Attached to building’s southern front via another glass hyphen, the addition provided desperately-needed room and accessibility. More dainty than most, the connector features larger-than-life columns and ornamentation.

Marysville, Ohio’s Union County Courthouse

When he completed the Union County Courthouse in 1883, architect David W. Gibbs probably never expected the building to be expanded as much as it has. A diamond-shaped justice center was added to the west front of the building in 2000 and connected by another glass hyphen⁹. This one sports a hipped roof to blend the disparate architectural styles of the two structures.

Ithaca, Michigan’s Gratiot County Courthouse

Michigan’s Gratiot County Courthouse doesn’t have a hyphen so much as it has an entire connector building. In 1994, a $3 million addition spanning 16,000 square feet was built to attach the courthouse to a modern 65th District Court Building to the south¹⁰. The three-story structure features a similar color scheme and allowed several offices to move to permanent quarters.

Scottsburg, Indiana’s Scott County Courthouse

The 1873 Scott County Courthouse underwent a significant expansion in 1995 that tripled its size. A new wing, to the right, was designed to closely resemble the original structure. Meanwhile, a striking, five-bay atrium attached the original building to its eastern duplicate. Complete with an aluminum cupola, the connector is now the focal point of the courthouse! I’ve never seen anything like it.

I never set out to document courthouse connectors or additions specifically. Still, seeing them pop up in the photos I took deepened my appreciation for the challenges and creativity involved in preserving the functionality of historic spaces. Now, instead of seeing additions and connections as blemishes, I look at them as opportunities to explore the ways history and progress intersect in the architecture we inherit and modify.

Sources Cited
1 “Looking Back on Our Courthouse” Our Brown County. Web. Retrieved December 6, 2019.2 “Randolph” The Palladium Item [Richmond] May 22, 2012: 2. Print.
2 “Randolph Co. is back on the clock (or vice versa)” The Star Press [Muncie] October 4, 2011: 1. Print.
3 Indiana Landmarks (2013). Ohio County. Indianapolis. Indiana Landmarks. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
4 Deacon, J. (n.d.). American Courthouses. A photo archive by John Deacon. Winnipeg. Web. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
5 Deacon, J. (n.d.). American Courthouses. A photo archive by John Deacon. Winnipeg. Web. Retrieved December 20, 2024.
6 Historical Notes from the Last Courthouse Renovation (1977). Cass County, Michigan. Web. Retrieved 10/7/22.
7 “Marshall County courthouse bond issue on the way.” The South Bend Tribune [South Bend]. May 20, 1986. 10. Print.
8 (See footnote 5).
9 Brake, Cindy. “Justice Center about to spring from drawing board” The Marysville Journal-Tribune [Marysville]. September 2, 1999. 1. Print.
10 Some county agencies to find permanent homes (1994, June 27). The Saginaw News. p. 10.