Posted March 29, 200817 yr Liberty is only about 15 minuets from Oxford, but it feels like another world. Union County actually has a smaller population than in 1830. Liberty's recently restored Carnegie Library
March 29, 200817 yr The Union County Courthouse was built in 1890-1891, and shortly after completion the 100-foot tower collapsed. There were no reported injuries, but reconstruction took almost nine months. When I visited Liberty in 2006, the courthouse was undergoing major restoration and was closed to the public. Of the eight Indiana courthouses designed by Indianapolis architect George W. Bunting, only this one and the Wells County Courthouse (1962 photo) in Bluffton were built in the Romanesque style. This building looks in rough shape. It would make a striking restoration, and it's right across the street from the courthouse. It would make a prestigious law office.
March 30, 200817 yr I did some courthouse work in Union County, Indiana. The courthouse building has various rooms labeled "Auditor," "Sheriff," etc, and the County Auditor, County Sheriff, etc, actually reside in those rooms! Most counties still have their historic courthouses, but they also have their expansions, annexes, buildings across the street, justice centers, etc. The politicians are there occasionally, but the work is done by the staff, which might be a hundred people for each elected office in an urban county. The County Surveyor in Union County did the work himself, with one helper, and still used an instrument over 50 years old. Time warp! The fact that Union County has a lower population than it did in 1830 may have something to do with all of this. In any case, this is the way the county system of government was intended to work back when the laws were written. How refreshing!
April 1, 200817 yr Strangely, I've been there... "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 1, 200817 yr I spend much of my summers running around these parts. (Proximity to Brookville Lake) I love that courthouse!! Franklin Cty has a neat one too!
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