Most of the Ohio courthouses I’ve visited are clustered on the state’s western edge close to my Indiana home. Fortunately, a trip back from my cousin’s wedding in rural West Virginia gave me the chance to explore a string of courthouses along the I-70 corridor. It completely reshaped how I see the Buckeye State! Among the stops, Guernsey County’s courthouse in Cambridge stood out. It’s not the tallest, but its intricate details make it one of the most striking I’ve encountered.
Guernsey County wasn’t named after a cow. Instead, it got its name from the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel. Established in 1810, the county was carved out of parts of Muskingum and Belmont Counties. There was initial was debate over whether the county seat should be in Cambridge or Washington, but Cambridge ultimately prevailed thanks to the generosity of two private citizens known only as Beatty and Gomber1. The pair donated land and provided public buildings to secure the designation.
At first, officials used rented quarters to hold court in until a Greek Revival structure was built on the public square in Cambridge in 1818. That first courthouse featured a red brick facade, two double doors, and a towering spire that rose eighty-seven feet above the village2! The spire was struck by lightning3, and the building was added to, in 18544.
As grand as the original Greek Revival courthouse was, it simply couldn’t keep up with the needs of a rapidly growing Guernsey County5. Built when the population was roughly 9,000, the structure was struggling to serve its purpose by 1880. By then, its constituents had nearly tripled to 27,000.
Recognizing the need for a more functional and spacious courthouse, county officials turned to architect Joseph W. Yost to design its replacement. As you could imagine, Yost was tasked with creating a building that would not only meet the county’s practical needs but also stand as a symbol of its progress and prosperity. He did.
Joseph Yost was a prolific architect ultimately responsible for a number of courthouses in Ohio, like those in Belmont, Holmes, Miami, Perry, and Harrison Counties. With his partner Frank Packard, he designed even more in Marion, Wood, Wyandot Counties. Their buildings ran the gamut of styles, but the Guernsey County Courthouse sits firmly in the Second Empire mode.
The eclectic style originated in France during the reign of Napoleon III and makes use of features like steep mansard roofs, dormer windows, symmetrical faces, and prominent string courses that define each story6.
The Guernsey County Courthouse features all of that ornamentation! Corner towers feature steep, mansard roofs and dormers that break up the building’s complex roofline, while each of the building’s sides is symmetrical. What’s more is that each level -from the raised basement on up to the attic- is defined by a row of contrasting trim.
Facing south, the overall structure is striking. The two-story building is composed of greenish stone trimmed with white Zanesville sandstone7. The southern entrance features a one-story portico supported by four columns that rise to a balcony. There, pairs of pilasters combine to form arches topped by small pediments of their own. A wide frieze supports another pediment, this one broken, that frames an enormous statue of Lady Justice.
Up close, the devil is truly in the details. The courthouse’s rough-cut Cumberland stone pairs beautifully with its sandstone accents, like Corinthian columns, carved keystones, and elegant arched windows. The meticulous craftsmanship extends to the clock tower, which, despite rising just 85 feet, is one of the most striking I’ve encountered. Unlike many of its era constructed of iron, this one appears to be stone all the way up to its dome. Even more fascinating are its rippled stone louvers- marcelled, some would say. It’s an extraordinary feature unlike anything I’ve seen before.
The Guernsey County Courthouse sits on a narrow square in the middle of Cambridge that’s partially taken up by a parking lot. It’s inauspicious in many ways -it can’t be seen from the nearby freeway junction- but it dominates a downtown where the next-tallest building I spied was a three-story building now home to PNC Bank.
Today, Cambridge is home to about 10,000 people- about a third less than its peak in 1930. Nevertheless, its courthouse still stands strong as a centerpiece of the community. The rest of Cambridge may be easily bypassed, but I suspect the Guernsey County Courthouse continues to draw attention from visitors and architecture enthusiasts alike for its intricate design, beautifully-preserved details, or its role in the story of this eastern Ohio County. I know it did for me! As time marches on, the courthouse remains steadfast, a reminder of the town’s past and a beacon for its future.
TL;DR
Guernsey County (pop. 96,760, 65/83)
Cambridge (pop. 9,969)
Built: 1883
Cost: $99,000 (about $3.1 million today)
Architect: J.W. Yost
Style: Second Empire
Courthouse Square: Shelbyville
Height: 85 feet
Current Use: County offices and courts
Photographed: 4/23/2018
Sources Cited
1 Williams, T.F. (1990) The household guide and instructor, with biographies: history of Guernsey County, Ohio. Windmill Publications [Mt. Vernon]. Book.
2 Courthouse History. Keith Vincent. 2018. Web. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
3 Sarchet, C.P.B. (1911). History of Guernsey County, Ohio. B.F. Bowen Co. [Indianapolis]. Book.
4 Deacon, J. “Guernsey County”. American Courthouses. 2008. Web. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
5 Guernsey County Courthouse (n.d.). Ohio History Connection Selections [Columbus]. Web. Retrieved December 25, 2024. 6 Portrait and Biographical Record of Guernsey County, Ohio (1895). C.O. Owen & Company [Chicago]. Book.
6 Second Empire Architecture (n.d.). Canada’s Historic Places [Gatineau]. Web. Retriebed December 26, 2024.
7 Portrait and Biographical Record of Guernsey County, Ohio (1895). C.O. Owen & Company [Chicago]. Book.
