Posted December 12, 200420 yr ohio has 88 counties. here are all of the county courthouses adams county seat: west union allen county seat: lima ashland county seat: ashland ashtabula county seat: jefferson athens county seat: athens auglaize county seat: wapakoneta belmont county seat: st. clairsville brown county seat: georgetown butler county seat: hamilton carroll county seat: carrollton champaign county seat: urbana clark county seat: springfield clermont county seat: batavia clinton county seat: wilmington columbiana county seat: lisbon coshocton county seat: coshocton crawford county seat: bucyrus cuyahoga county seat: cleveland darke county seat: greenville defiance county seat: defiance delaware county seat: delaware erie county seat: sandusky fairfield county seat: lancaster fayette county seat: washington court house franklin county seat: columbus fulton county seat: wauseon gallia county seat: gallipolis geauga county seat: chardon greene county seat: xenia guernsey county seat: cambridge hamilton county seat: cincinnati hancock county seat: findlay hardin county seat: kenton harrison county seat: cadiz henry county seat: napoleon highland county seat: hillsboro hocking county seat: logan holmes county seat: millersburg huron county seat: norwalk jackson county seat: jackson jefferson county seat: steubenville knox county seat: mt. vernon lake county seat: painesville lawrence county seat: ironton licking county seat: newark logan county seat: bellefontaine lorain county seat: elyria lucas county seat: toledo madison county seat: london mahoning county seat: youngstown marion county seat: marion medina county seat: medina meigs county seat: pomeroy mercer county seat: celina miami county seat: troy monroe county seat: woodsfield montgomery county seat: dayton morgan county seat: mcconnelsville morrow county seat: mt. gilead muskingum county seat: zanesville noble county seat: caldwell ottawa county seat: port clinton paulding county seat: paulding perry county seat: new lexington pickaway county seat: circleville pike county seat: waverly portage county seat: ravenna preble county seat: eaton putnam county seat: ottawa richland county seat: mansfield ross county seat: chilicothe sandusky county seat: fremont scioto county seat: portsmouth seneca county seat: tiffin shelby county seat: sidney stark county seat: canton summit county seat: akron trumbell county seat: warren tuscarawas county seat: new philadelphia union county seat: marysville van wert county seat: van wert vinton county seat: mcarthur warren county seat: lebanon washington county seat: marietta wayne county seat: wooster williams county seat: bryan wood county seat: bowling green wyandot county seat: upper sandusky
December 12, 200420 yr My votes: Best: Guernsey - it's so pretty, so three-dimensional, not overly ornate, beautiful brick instead of slabs or blocks, nice consistent theme, and a kick-ass clock tower. It's got everything. Runner Up: Perry - I love the reddish brick, the chimneys, the trim colors - it's unique in the state (which I know thanks to our illustrious Courthouse Cortesan!), and really works. Worst: Champaign - would have been 2nd worst if it weren't for the sans serif font they have across the top of the building. The only damn ornamentation they have is functional, and minimally ornamented at that. Ick, ick, ick, someone should have stopped these people. Runner Up: Gallia - just useless and ignorable. Oddest: Meigs - they obviously didn't make any artist renderings before voting on this design. I mean, on its own the top is bland but unoffensive - but those 1st floor staircases end up looking like landing gear on an alien spaceship. But at least they tried... SummitStreet - ThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYou!!!! What a wonderful series and asset to the board!
December 12, 200420 yr Super thread! You've done a wonderful job of documenting the county seats, and done it amazingly quickly. I'm still fascinated by the Chilicothe courthouse. It's so elaborate.
December 12, 200420 yr holy schnikees! fantastic job thanks. isn't it amazing how almost all of them are beautiful? many others are at least interesting. only a very few are bland or just ok. i could never pick my fav, there are many. i have to say the only one that i don't like is the dayton courthouse, but its not obnoxious or anything. also, i'd rather forget the wood county courthouse, at least the inside of it-heh heh.
December 12, 200420 yr Love it! Thank you. That was a treat. Thumbs down to Montgomery and Franklin County for their modern courthouses. They just don't seem to fit.
December 13, 200420 yr So good. So very good. What a great thread. Upon first blush I like Warren, Williams and Wood. Miami was nice and I'd agree Perry and Guernsey (spelling?) were very nice as well. Going to have to go back a few times and study . . .
December 13, 200420 yr Regarding the Montgomery County one... the old courthouse is still there, so you can pretend it's the real one if you like it better. (Sorry, bad picture I know) And the "new" courthouse wasn't too bad, but I say that based on pictures, since I was not alive to have seen it in person. It was next to the old one, basically where I was standing when taking the above picture.
December 13, 200420 yr The original Gallia county courthouse was also destroyed by fire...the new one sucks.
December 13, 200420 yr My favorite will always be Miami County's. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 13, 200420 yr trumbul wins (bias) and richland loses. If you walk behind the richland one you can see the excersize pen for the prisoners its pretty hilarous
December 14, 200420 yr thanks guys. pigboy, that's exactly why about delaware. i hope to return there soon. plus to the other 6. here's my awards: worst courthouse: champaign (runner up=portage, richland) worst addition/editing: seneca (runner up=lorain) worst carnival placement in relation to: trumbell (runner up=wayne) most likely to be mistaken for the senate atrium of the statehouse: hardin best clock: stark worst clock: defiance most similar: union/henry (runner up=putnam/summit) most in need of repair: pike most hidden by trees: delaware (runner up=coshocton) looks the most like a school: champaign (runner up=noble) best statues: hancock best windows: geauga worst windows: auglaize best domes on top: wyandot worst domes on top: clinton most unfortunate fire resulting in a crappy courthouse: gallia (runner up=franklin) best unique fact: meigs. 3 stories, each has a ground entrance best usage of multiple courthouses: medina. the one pictured is the older one, but is also still used. best courthouses: belmont, hancock, guernsey, licking(and the ones that look like it), miami, trumbell, van wert
December 14, 200420 yr I can't believe Seneca and Lorain won over Jefferson and Defiance for worst addition/editing.
December 14, 200420 yr john: i can't stand the seneca top. it sickens me to no end. as for lorain, they used to have a top that was better than the one in troy. defiance and jefferson were right on their heels. pigboy, don't apologize! i enjoy other people's courthouse pictures and have no problem with seeing them in here.
December 20, 200420 yr Lake, Mahoning, and Van Wert at least deserve honorable mentions- they're beautiful! And very different from one another
February 9, 200619 yr my favorite was franklin county's. its the tallest in the state and the most modern. i have seen pictures of the old one and that blew me away. it would have been nice to keep the old one and still build the 400 foot one. it looks especially impressive going north on 71 from greenlawn avenue or going east on 70 from central avenue/mound street
October 22, 200618 yr Wonderful thread, great pictures. Worst windows: toss up between Carroll and Seneca Worst addition: Defiance--yikes! :bang2: Worst remodel: Erie--art deco at its most mundane Best tower: Geauga--love the copper. Honorable mention to Wood Worst tower: Jackson--better to have not put anything up there. The Seneca tower is just plain ugly as well. Worst tying to be traditional yet modern building: Warren--what were they thinking? Best strange yet wonderful: Lake. It reminds me of a monument to some forgotten despot. Meigs is a close runner up. The stairways and double rows of window in the dome are a nice touch. Best small county/elaborate courthouse: Wayne Overall favorite: Trumbull with Wood and Miami close behind. Ohio is lucky to have so many treasures. Hope that Franklin County will become more cohesive when the new building go up and the old Hall of Justice disappears.
February 5, 200916 yr Although Mercer County's original court house burnt down in the early 1900's, the new one is very official looking much like a monument would be with the columns and such. The true beauty though is on the inside, most people are shocked to see that this building holds such beautiful features!! The coffered dome and marble walls and grand staircase is amazing!!
April 24, 200916 yr There is abook about all 88 of Ohio's Courthouses called: County Courthouses of Ohio by Susan Thrane, and exceptional photography by Tom Patterson and Bill Patterson (my Uncle and Grandfather, respectively) I can't say much for the writing, but the photography in this book is excellent. Tom also has another book about all 50 State Capitals called: State Houses: America's 50 State Capitol Buildings. Amazing photography in this one as well. He was given unique access to many of these buildings.
April 30, 200916 yr Wow... I really like Belmont, Greene, Highland, and Licking's county courthouses. (Special mention to my hometown courthouse, Miami, as well)
April 30, 200916 yr Not all the pictures would load for me, so i didn't see the pic you had for Trumbull County. Here are some i've taken.......
August 28, 200915 yr Warren County's historic courthouse Montgomery County's historic courthouse Delaware County's courthouse and tower
August 28, 200915 yr LOST & ALTERED COURTHOUSES: Butler County - tower and roof burnt 1912 Clark County - burnt in 1918, but original foundation and first floor facade was reused in rebuilt structure Defiance County - tower and mansard roof removed (two counties in Indiana have courthouses with identical designs; both have had structural problems with their towers and one is removed) Erie County - reclad in art deco facade in 1930's Franklin County - demolished 1974 Gallia County - burnt early 1980's Jefferson County - tower and mansard roof collapsed in windstorm in 1950's Lorain County - tower removed (Marion, Indiana also has a courthouse with this Elijah Myers design and its tower has been removed as well, perhaps both presented structural problems) Montgomery County - new courthouse demolished in 1960's/70's Portage County - demolished Richland County - demolished 1960's Seneca County - tower dome scrapped for war effort in 1943, art deco facing applied in 1944 (tower to be restored)
August 31, 200915 yr It goes to prove that not all the old stuff was wonderful. The Jefferson County Court House was hiddeous. It is ugly now, but was just as ugly before. The great loss was the Franklin County Court House, although that has been terribly bastardized over the years prior to its destruction.
March 18, 201510 yr Was driving through Greene County (love the courthouse, kinda reminds me of Cincinnati City Hall) and thought I'd bump this thread.
March 18, 201510 yr Lake County Courthouse under construction, 1909 aerial view from back http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
March 18, 201510 yr thomasbw[/member] Was driving through Greene County (love the courthouse, kinda reminds me of Cincinnati City Hall) and thought I'd bump this thread. Somebody was hitting up Yellow Springs... "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 8, 20169 yr NOOO. Just no... Renovations planned for historic Lorain County Courthouse Richard Payerchin, The Morning Journal POSTED: 06/07/16, 9:51 PM EDT | UPDATED: 4 HRS AGO 0 COMMENTS The historic Lorain County Courthouse sits at 308 Second St. in Elyria. A new entrance could be built onto the south end of the historic Lorain County Courthouse, which will be renovated in a project overseen by the Lorain County Commission and the county judges. The trees around the courthouse lawn also would be removed, with new landscaping around the building and interior renovations. The historic Lorain County Courthouse sits at 308 Second St. in Elyria. A new entrance could be built onto the south end of the historic Lorain County Courthouse, which will be renovated in a project overseen by the Lorain County Commission and the county judges. The trees around the courthouse lawn also would be removed, with new landscaping around the building and interior renovations. Richard Payerchin — The Morning Journal http://www.morningjournal.com/general-news/20160607/renovations-planned-for-historic-lorain-county-courthouse
June 13, 20168 yr Man, Franklin county's was sweeeet! Too bad they demolished it. Marion County/Indianapolis had a very similar courthouse, also demolished.
June 14, 20168 yr There was a movement to save the old Franklin County courthouse, but it fell on deaf ears. The building had been badly altered in the 50s but not beyond restoration. The interior was wonderful, with beautiful woodwork, high ceilings and grand staircase. I remember it well.
June 14, 20168 yr The destruction of the courthouse was at a time of wholesale urban renewal efforts in Columbus. Many treasures were lost without a second thought. The freeway building did horrific damage to the urban fabric as well.
June 14, 20168 yr Indeed. That's why the Columbus Demolition Watch thread is 3 pages long but the one for the other two Cs is much longer. If it was 1974 the Columbus Demolition Watch thread would be 1100 pages long.
June 14, 20168 yr The destruction of the courthouse was at a time of wholesale urban renewal efforts in Columbus. Many treasures were lost without a second thought. The freeway building did horrific damage to the urban fabric as well. Honestly the only damage it did was to isolate the eastside. It may have taken years but now look at German Village, the Brewery District and Short North they're all thriving and we're pretty unique as far as the 3 C's are concerned.
June 17, 20168 yr That old Montgomery County (Dayton) postcard shows the "Old" fully-restored court house on the left, which is still proudly standing at the corner of Third and Main, the "New" court house (it was called that when I was a kid) just to the right of it and torn down when I was in high school in the mid-'70's with the rest of that block (except for the "Old" court house) and then the old DP&L building to the right of the "New" court house that they tore down in the '70's (a very confusing period for all of us in Dayton at the time.) There's a nice photo up there of the restored OLD court house with the NEW DP&L building behind it. That whole block was Urban-renewaled into "Court House Plaza" in the '70's and contained the OLD court house, the NEW DP&L building, the 28 story headquarters tower for Mead Corporation and a six-story Elder Beerman store. I believe all of those buildings are nearly empty now except for the OLD court house. (Yeah, yeah, Beerman's is now some County office thing, but whatever; it all seems gone with the wind to a Native Daytonian now...)
June 23, 20168 yr Drones are a great invention, aren't they? Here's something I've never seen before: the Lake County Courthouse with Lake Erie in the distance-- http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
June 25, 20168 yr That's a great shot. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
November 2, 20177 yr top of the Lake County Courthouse--is Alfred Hitchcock doing a sequel? :o http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
May 31, 20187 yr Defiance County has made modifications in an attempt to improve upon the 1950's alterations:
October 1, 20186 yr I thought this was a nice picture, a bunch of kids on a field trip to the Lake Co. Courthouse. I wonder if they were learning how the "justice" system works :o. Did parents allow their kids to watch the Kavanaugh hearings? http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
February 5, 20214 yr I feel like I need a road trip in early spring. Maybe a drive to see some Courthouses ...
August 27, 2024Aug 27 9 minutes ago, ink said: Bump...how is this thread 20 years old ?!? Uh, because we're old! It's pretty cool that this train has continued to steam on!
August 27, 2024Aug 27 yeah, is this the walled city or kowloon thread for uo? 🙌😂 anyways, here's the old lorain county courthouse from the angle seen above, but with it's dome -- of course all the offices are across the way in hideous modern buildings nowadays. and here is an earlier version -- aaannnddd an earlier, earlier version
Create an account or sign in to comment