Read time: 5 min.

It’s not every day you stumble across a forgotten courthouse, let alone one that’s nearly two-hundred years old. Many historic governmental buildings -even the modest ones- are preserved with pride or at least commemorated in some other way. When I found the long-abandoned Dearborn County Courthouse in Wilmington, I was struck by just how rare and poignant a sight it was! The building was weathered, boarded up, and overlooked. What happened? 

Lawrenceburg was the seat of Dearborn County from 1810 until 1836, when officials packed up and moved operations to centrally located Wilmington¹. The state legislature made the decision to relocate, which prompted grumbles from Lawrenceburg residents who had little say in the matter. Still, the local government didn’t waste much time: they built a two-story brick courthouse in Wilmington for $4000. 

For Lawrenceburg, the move marked the end of its reign as the county’s political and commercial hub. Needless to say, its boosters weren’t thrilled. Over in Rising Sun, though, the news was met with enthusiasm! That growing river town had been lobbying for its own county since 1817, only to be blocked time and again by political foes in -you guessed it- Lawrenceburg.

After the move, officials in Rising Sun began to hatch a plan that capitalized on the misfortune of their neighbors. Here’s what the three-part scheme entailed:

1. Lawrenceburg would endorse the formation of a new county with Rising Sun as its seat.
2. That new county would absorb residents who favored a move to Wilmington, which was closer to Rising Sun than Lawrenceburg.
3. The new county would negate Wilmington’s status as the most central location in Dearborn, which meant the county seat would move back to Lawrenceburg². 

The plan was executed after seven years of planning. It worked, and Ohio County was organized in 1845 with Rising Sun as its seat. Soon after, officials in Dearborn County packed their bags again and moved back to Lawrenceburg. 

Wilmington’s old courthouse didn’t share the same luck as some of its peers. Details are scarce, but after it was retired from official use, the building found a second life as a Masonic Hall³. These days, though, it appears to be empty again- quietly crumbles at the corner of Wilmington Pike and King Street. According to the county assessor, it’s now listed as a commercial or industrial structure in “very poor” condition⁴.

Wilmington never recovered after losing the county seat, and things only got worse in 1958 when State Road 350 was rerouted to bypass the town entirely⁵. These days, the only non-residential building aside from the courthouse is the Wilmington United Methodist Church, built just down the road around the turn of the twentieth century. For a while, a two-story, federal-style I.O.O.F. Hall still held on⁶. It was still around as late as 1999, but it had vanished by the time I visited in 2016.

The old courthouse hasn’t fared much better. At some point, an owner replaced the original entrance with a sliding barn door and added a shaky set of wooden stairs leading to what used to be a window that now serves as a makeshift doorway.

Most of the other windows are either boarded up or draped in plastic, and whole chunks of brick have crumbled to the ground. The once-elegant cornice is missing pieces, and the cupola is long gone. When I saw it, the old Dearborn County Courthouse is less a historic landmark now and more a slow-motion collapse.

Nine years later, it may be gone for all I know. If it’s still standing, though, I think the courthouse is more than just a crumbling building. Wilmington may have lost its seat, but for nearly a decade, it was the heart of Dearborn County. That alone should make it worth preserving. Instead, it sits abandoned and decaying. A plaque stands out front, but there’s certainly no protection, and seemingly no plan.

Someone would have to be 180 years old to remember what the old Dearborn County Courthouse once was, but it’s not hard to see what it still could be. Maybe it’s time for Dearborn County residents, local historians, or preservation-minded groups to take another look before this chapter in the county’s history disappears for good. The bones may still be there, but what might be missing is the will to act.

Sources Cited
1 Enyart, David. “Dearborn County” Indiana County Courthouse Histories. ACPL Genealogy Center, 2010-2018. Web. July 18, 2018.
2 Enyart, David. “Ohio County” Indiana County Courthouse Histories. ACPL Genealogy Center, 2010-2018. Web. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
3 Masing, Milton A. Dearborn County, Indiana in Vintage Postcards. Arcadia Publishing. 1999. Print.
4 Dearborn County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2025). Parcel ID: 15-08-25-300-065.001-008. Dearborn County, Indiana Assessor. map, Lawrenceburg, IN.
5 Indiana State Highway Department (1957). State Highway System of Indiana (Map). Indiana State Highway Department. OCLC 78547924. Retrieved November 11, 2016 – via Indiana State Library and Historical Bureau.
6 Masing, Milton A. Dearborn County, Indiana in Vintage Postcards. Arcadia Publishing. 1999. Print.