I wrote about the incredible work being done on the Blackford County Courthouse several moons ago. Its new copper roof was just starting to take shape, and I couldn’t have been more impressed! I made it back to Hartford City last week, and I’m happy to report that the transformation seems nearly complete. Even under a blanket of gray skies and gloom, the courthouse roof gleamed like a beacon. I can’t wait to go back on a sunny day to see it really shine.

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.

I’ve visited nearly half of Ohio’s county courthouses. From sleek modern skyscrapers to stately survivors of bygone eras, they showcase an incredible range of architecture. Each one tells a story, but few have caught my eye like the Fulton County Courthouse. Its towering clock, intricate details, and commanding presence make it a striking symbol of the craftsmanship and vision that shaped the early 1870s.

Six or seven years ago, my cousin’s wedding led me deep into the hills of Randolph County, West Virginia. I’m grateful it did- without that trip, I might never have discovered the striking courthouse that anchors the city of Elkins! It’s one of the tallest in the state. 

I’ve visited nearly two-hundred courthouses across the Midwest, and nearly every historic one has been altered in some way to keep it functional in the modern world. Some of the renovations have been downright egregious! My favorites are the ones where the changes are so seamless you’d never know they happened, and one of the best examples is the Logan County Courthouse in Bellefontaine, Ohio. I had no idea its roof and clock tower had been replaced a few years before I visited!

Indiana boasts an abundance of historic courthouses. Only eight of the state’s ninety-two counties no longer feature one! The modern government centers vary in architectural appeal, but many preserve an artifact or two from their predecessors. One of the most striking relics can be found in Logansport, where the Cass County Government Building features the clock from the 1888 courthouse it replaced.

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.

My dad spent some time working in marketing for an insurance agency in Celina, Ohio, after my parents divorced. It was more than an hour’s drive, but one weekend, my mom took us up to visit him at the office. We passed the astonishing Grand Lake and vaguely recall some of Dad’s office trappings, but I couldn’t remember the courthouse! As it turns out, it’s a real Neoclassical gem just block away from dad’s old workplace.