The Champaign County Courthouse is located at 200 North Main Street in Urbana, Ohio. [1] The courthouse is designed in the International style prevalent in the 1950s by Phillip T. Partridge. The current building is the fifth for the county. The courthouse is included within the bounds of the Urbana Monument Square Historic District, but is not a contributing property.
Champaign County was established in 1805 and the county seat was placed at Springfield. Until 1807 the courts met in the home of a local citizen, George Fithian. Unfortunately, most of the county records relating to this period of history were lost. The county seat was removed to Urbana in 1807.
Even though land was set aside for a courthouse on a public square, the courthouse was built elsewhere. This structure was a simple log house which was converted into a private home after the court relocated. During the War of 1812 the courthouse was used as an army hospital and the court was removed to the upper story of the county jail. This arrangement continued until 1817 when a new courthouse was finished.
The county decided on a new courthouse and construction began on the public square in 1814 and was completed in 1817. This two-story brick structure had a central entrance located on the front facade and a central bell tower. The bell would ring to alert local citizens of public meetings, fires, births or deaths. A special club was used in the most important events and produced a distinctive high pitched tone.
The county decided to build a new courthouse in 1837 and chose a site once again removed from the public square. The site chosen was the corner of North Main Street and East Court Street, which is still the present site of the courthouse. This courthouse was designed by the architectural firm of Hall and Sheldon and was completed ahead of schedule in 1839. This two-story brick structure was later remodeled in 1880 after it was deemed to be dangerous. The remodeling used the plans of the courthouse in Hillsboro right down to the new classical portico with Ionic columns and belltower. This new remodel was considered by many to fireproof the building. This was to be proved wrong on January 20, 1948, when a fire completely destroyed the building.
The fire of the courthouse placed the county in a bind. With no money in the budget for construction, several ballots were voted on to raise funds but were all defeated. A group of citizens campaigned for a final bond which passed with a sum of $650,000. This was not enough so the county officials decided to pay for the cost to equip the courthouse out of the county's fund which left restricted spending for several years.
Architect Phillip Partridge was selected to design the fifth courthouse. He designed the building in the International style of the 1950s. The building was dedicated to much ceremony on June 8, 1957. Attending this ceremony was Governor C. William O'Neill, whose speech preceded the open house.
The courthouse called for four floors but this was deleted after realizing this would cost too much. The building is constructed in International style, which calls for little or no external decoration. The walls are made up of red brick with large rectangular window panels. The recessed entrance is reached by a flight of stairs and is framed by 4 large square pillars of granite blocks.
The Allegheny County Courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is part of a complex designed by H. H. Richardson. The buildings are considered among the finest examples of the Romanesque Revival style for which Richardson is well known.
The Allen County Courthouse is an historic courthouse building located at the corner of North Main Street & East North Street in Lima, Ohio, United States. In 1974, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Ashtabula County Courthouse Group is a registered historic district in Jefferson, Ohio, listed in the National Register on 1975-06-30.
Ashland County Courthouse was constructed from 1928–1929 on West 2nd Street in Ashland, Ohio. The courthouse was added to the National Register on 1979-12-21.
The Cuyahoga County Courthouse stretches along Lakeside Avenue at the north end of the Cleveland Mall in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The building was listed on the National Register along with the mall district in 1975. Other notable buildings of the Group Plan are the Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse designed by Arnold Brunner, the Cleveland Public Library, the Board of Education Building, Cleveland City Hall, and Public Auditorium.
The Fayette County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located at 110 East Court Street in Washington Court House, Ohio. On July 2, 1973, it was added to the National Register.
The Darke County Courthouse, Sheriff's House and Jail are three historic buildings located at 504 South Broadway just south of West 4th Street in Greenville, Ohio. On December 12, 1976, the three buildings of the present courthouse complex were added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Courthouse of Crawford County, Ohio, is a landmark of the county seat, Bucyrus, Ohio. The courthouse was built in 1854 on East Mansfield Street by architect Harlan Jones and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 1985-02-28 as a part of the Bucyrus Commercial Historic District.
The Brown County Courthouse is located at 101 South Main Street in Georgetown, Ohio. The courthouse is the centerpiece of Georgetown and is included in the Georgetown Historic District.
The Clark County Courthouse is located at the northwest corner of North Limestone and East Columbia Streets in Springfield, Ohio. The courthouse standing is the third for the county and is built over the foundations of the second.
The Clermont County Courthouse is located at 270 East Main Street in Batavia, Ohio. It was built by the Works Progress Administration and opened in 1936.
The Columbiana County Courthouse is located at 105 South Market Street in Lisbon, Ohio. The courthouse was added to the National Register on 1979-08-24 as part of the Lisbon Historic District.
The Defiance County Courthouse is located at 221 Clinton Street in Defiance, Ohio.
The Delaware County Courthouse is located at 117 N Union St, Delaware, OH 43015 in Delaware, Ohio. The courthouse was placed on the National Register.
The Erie County Courthouse is located at 323 Columbus Street in Sandusky, Ohio. The current courthouse has served the county since 1939.
The Fairfield County Courthouse is located at 224 East Main Street in Lancaster, Ohio. The courthouse is the second for the county.
The Vigo County Courthouse is a courthouse in Terre Haute, Indiana. The seat of government for Vigo County, the courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Cherokee County Courthouse is located at the corner of Central and Peachtree Streets in Murphy, North Carolina, the county seat of Cherokee County. The Classical Revival building, built in 1926 to a design by James J. Baldwin, was the second built on the site. The prior courthouse on the site burned twice, but after the second fire was not salvageable. The blue marble-faced two story building has a five-bay diagonal section facing the roadway that forms its entrance. It has a four-columned Corinthian Greek portico, and is topped by a monumental cupola which rises well above the structure. All the blue marble used for the construction was quarried locally from area mines. The building interior, especially its courtroom, has retained much of its original woodwork and stone styling. The courthouse underwent a substantial remodel around 2011, which modernized the interior, but in turn cost the building some of its original interior features. The remodel also added additional court rooms, and offices to the rear section of the building. The old Cherokee County Jail which was built in 1922 was demolished in order to make room for the new addition. The copper lantern which sits atop the dome, was removed around 2017 to make crucial repairs to the lantern. It was in danger of collapsing in on itself, due to structural deterioration over the years, as well as being riddled with bullet holes. The lantern was restored locally with help from The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners, the Cherokee County Maintenance Department, Tri-County Community College Welding Department, as well as numerous other skilled local residents.
The Clay County Courthouse, located at 300 Broadway Street in Louisville, is the county courthouse serving Clay County, Illinois. Built in 1913, the courthouse was Clay County's fourth courthouse; it has served continuously as the seat of Clay County government since its opening. Architect Joseph W. Royer, who planned several other Illinois courthouses, designed the Classical Revival building. The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
The 1887 Franklin County Courthouse was the second permanent courthouse of Franklin County, Ohio. The building, located in the county seat of Columbus, stood from 1887 to 1974. The site was replaced with Dorrian Commons Park, open from 1976 to 2018; the courthouse moved to a new building nearby. The site is now planned to once again hold the county's courthouse.
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