I’ve been to about fifty of Ohio’s courthouses. Aside from a skyscraper in downtown Columbus, most have been relatively squat. Nothing prepared me for the Wood County Courthouse in Bowling Green: the landmark commands the skyline, soaring 195 feet above downtown! On the gloomy day I visited, its tower could easily be spotted from the I-75 exit two miles away. On a clear day, you can probably see it from much farther.
Wood County was established in 1820 after a treaty with local Native American tribes like the Odawa people resulted in the purchase of land1. The county was named after Eleazer D. Wood, the founder of Fort Meigs, and the town of Perrysburg was established on the south side of the Maumee River. Perrysburg was named county seat in 1822 after it became a commercial hub for nearby Lake Erie2.
The first courthouse there was an $895 building erected by Daniel Hubbell and Guy Nearing3. The second, a “Roman-Doric structure built in the basilica style,” came in 18374. The 50×70 foot courthouse stood thirty feet tall above a stone foundation with a cupola above four tall columns. The $20,000 building was completed in 1843 and used until 1870. It burned down three years later.
That said, the county seat had moved to Bowling Green in 1868 after a petition battle known locally as the “Ten Years’ War5.” The story is complicated, but a courthouse was soon erected. Little is known about that third building, but construction began on the present structure in 1893. It was designed by Joseph W. Yost and Frank Packard of Cleveland6.
Yost was a prolific courthouse architect who designed governmental structures across Ohio, including in Belmont, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Miami, Perry, and Wyandot Counties. Born in Clarington, Ohio, in 1847, he studied under Joseph Fairfax of Wheeling, West Virginia, before setting out on his own to start a company in Bellaire. After organizing the Association of Ohio Architects in 1885, Yost joined up with Packard to form a new firm. Yost and Packard drew up plans for a variety of buildings in and around Ohio before Yost moved to New York City in 1900.
On July 4, 1894, as many as 15,000 people -nearly a third of Wood County’s population- gathered to witness the laying of the courthouse cornerstone7. Three years later, in 1897, county commissioners accepted the finished building, though it was never formally dedicated. What was supposed to be a $200,000 project ultimately swelled to nearly $275,000! It’s tough to estimate inflation for figures before 1913, but that’s about $10.5 million today.
It was a staggering sum for its time, but even 130 years later, you can still see exactly where every dollar went. For starters, take a look at my favorite feature- the clock tower. Its sheer height dominates the skyline, but the clock itself is the real showpiece: each hand stretches an incredible seventeen feet across8.
When installed in 1896, those hands were the second-largest clock hands in the entire country! Behind them, four glowing faces each held twelve electric lightbulbs, with twin rings of Roman numerals boldly spelling out the time.
I’d describe the courthouse as fitting neatly into the Richardson Romanesque mode of architecture due to its scale, rough stone, and recessed arches. At least one source, though, describes it as a “modernized9” version of the form. Rising from a solid stone foundation, the three-story bulk of the courthouse faces south and features a wide stone arch and primary entrance.
Two narrow turrets flank the main clock tower, and each are framed by squat dormers with columnated windows. Most of the building’s massing was built of sandstone from Amherst, Ohio, and granite from Vermont, but limestone and marble feature prominently elsewhere10. Overall, the courthouse projects an unmistakable sense of permanence, strength, and majesty.
Munger, Munger and Associates’ County Office Building carries its own sense of strength and permanence, but it doesn’t match the grandeur of the old courthouse. Completed in 1976, the six-story modernist block rises just northwest of its ornate neighbor. A semi-sympathetic hyphen -the Alvin L. Perkins Atrium- was added to link the two in 200411. It serves as a sympathetic bridge between very different eras of architecture.
Overall, the Wood County Courthouse in Bowling Green is a landmark that embodies the ambition and pride of its era. From its massive clock to its rugged RIchardson Romanesque arches, the structure has stood watch over Bowling Green for more than a century, outlasting its predecessors and still managing to overshadow its modern neighbor. Whether glimpsed from miles away on I-75 or admired up close on Court Street, it’s a reminder of how architecture can shape a community’s identity and inspire awe long after the cornerstone is laid.
TL;DR
Wood County (pop. 133,077, 21/88)
Bowling Green (pop. 30,463)
Built: 1897
Cost: $275,000 (about $10.5 million today).
Architect: Yost & Packard
Style: Richardson Romanesque
Courthouse Square: Lancaster Square
Height: 195 feet
Current Use: County courts and offices
Photographed: 1/2/2021
Sources Cited
1 History (n.d.) Wood County, Ohio [Bowling Green]. Web. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
2 Dinner Celebrates Wood County history (2019, October 5). The Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune. p. 2.
3 Historical and Biographical Record of Wood County, Ohio (1897) J.H. Beers & Co. [Chicago]. Book.
4 See footnote 3.
5 (See footnote 3).
6 Deacon, J. “Wood County”. American Courthouses. 2008. Web. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
7 Courthouse History and Photos (n.d.). Matthew Oestreich. Wood County Auditor [Bowling Green]. Web. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
8 (See footnote 7).
9 Jones, P.W. (2007). Human interest history of Wood County, Ohio. Ohio Genealogical Society, Wood County Chapter [Bowling Green]. Book.
10 (See footnote 7).
11 (See footnote 6).
