Hoosiers are lucky to have so many historic courthouses in Indiana. But that’s not to say that keeping the venerable structures around has been easy: old courthouses across the state have been subject to wrecking balls, ugly renovations, tornadoes, and even bombings. The most common danger has generally been the threat of fire. Many of the oldest were built before fireproofing existed, and historians have documented at least 42 conflagrations inside our courthouses. Of those 42 fires, 18 resulted in the major loss of county records. 26 totally destroyed county courthouses here¹.