I have a thing for old courthouses. My quest to visit all of Indiana’s pretty much wrapped up with a stop to see the new clock tower in Crawfordsville, but the journey began in 2011 when I headed the other way down State Road 32 toward Winchester. Randolph County was deep into an ambitious effort to expand and preserve its historic courthouse! Fittingly, it also centered around a replacement tower rising into the sky.
Built in 1877, the Randolph County Courthouse originally stood two stories tall with a steep mansard roof and an elaborate clock tower. Its architect, the self-taught J.C. Johnson, embraced the ornate Second Empire style that was all the rage during the Victorian era. The result was nothing short of spectacular! More than 140 years later, the courthouse still looks much like it did the day it was completed.
That wasn’t always the case, though. In 1954, dry beams and inadequate wiring made the original tower susceptible to flames, and the courthouse wasn’t fireproofed when it was built. To make matters worse, the tall, narrow tower was predisposed to swaying in strong winds. By the early 1950s, it had damaged the roof.
A state fire marshal’s report suggested the tower had shifted from its original supports and that a gust could send it crashing into Washington Street1. Tearing down the tower was more appealing than removing its wreckage, so away it went as part of a 1954 project that added an elevator, a new courtroom, and a new third floor carved out of the attic2.
Fifty years later, the rest of the old building was rotting. My parents owned a furniture store around that time, and I remember first noticing the flat-roofed courthouse when we made a delivery nearby. It looked sad, and officials agreed: County commissioners voted 2-1 to demolish the courthouse in favor of building a new one or moving to an empty Walmart on the other side of town3. A Walmart!
Not everyone agreed with the commissioners’ plan. Indiana Landmarks put the courthouse on its 10 Most Endangered list. 5,000 residents signed a petition to keep the standing. That’s when the Courthouse Girls of Farmland stepped in. Holding only a porcelain model of the building to preserve their modesty, the elderly women stripped and posed for a calendar to draw awareness to the plight of their beloved building.
Proceeds went to a ‘Save the Courthouse’ fund, and the calendar went viral4! Soon after, commissioners voted to rescind their earlier decision. The courthouse was saved, and a plan was developed to expand and restore it5.
I’d been following the saga with interest. In 2011, I quickly drove to Winchester to see the progress for myself. The sympathetic entrance wing was mostly fleshed out and looked great, and a steel skeleton sprouted from the center of the original building. By the time I returned, that bare frame had been wrapped in a sleek aluminum skin that hinted at the finished form to come.
Work on the courthouse hit an unexpected snag when the truck hauling the new cupola crashed en route to Winchester6. As if that weren’t enough, high winds delayed the delicate task of lifting the structure into place. Fortunately, the setbacks came with a silver lining: it gave me a rare, up-close chance to see the top of the tower while it was still at ground level.
I wouldn’t call myself much of a photographer now, but I really had no clue what I was doing back then. It was all point-and-shoot, and it shows in the photos. Still, I’m glad I captured something: rough as they are, my snapshots offer a glimpse of a moment few people got to see. Normally, the cupola would be perched 130 feet in the air! Instead, there it was, resting beside the courthouse like a rocket ready to blast off.
Even from behind the construction fence, the cupola was a sight to behold. It was huge! I admired its craftsmanship- the crisp lines, the gleam of the white aluminum in the afternoon sun, and the way it echoed the original tower without feeling like a replica. As impressive as it was up close, though, the cupola looked even more spectacular once it finally took its place atop the tower a few days later.
It’s hard to believe that fourteen years have passed since I first stood in front of the Randolph County Courthouse with a camera in hand. I was just beginning to explore Indiana’s architectural landmarks, and the courthouse felt like a symbol of something larger, almost like a gateway into the state’s layered history. I’ve returned to Winchester several times since, but those first photos still hold a special place. They mark the start of a journey into Indiana’s broader landmarks I hadn’t realized I was taking at the time.
Sources Cited
1 “Randolph County Officials Study Bids For Work on Historical Courthouse” The Palladium-Item [Richmond] April 15, 1954: 11. Print.
2 “Courthouse Project Finished at Winchester” The Muncie Star [Muncie] September 26, 1955: 14. Print.
3 “Overhaul” The Star Press [Muncie] May 16, 2011: 2. Print.
4 “Courthouse Girls bare all for building” The Indianapolis Star [Indianapolis] July 31, 2005: 1. Print.
5 “Randolph” The Palladium Item [Richmond] May 22, 2012: 2. Print.
6 “Randolph Co. is back on the clock (or vice versa)” The Star Press [Muncie] October 4, 2011: 1. Print.
