The Delphi Courthouse Square Historic District in

Delphi, Indiana Delphi () is a city in and the county seat of Carroll County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. Located twenty minutes northeast of Lafayette, it is part of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,893 at the 2010 c ...

is a area roughly bounded by Monroe, Main, Market and Indiana Streets. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2010. It includes

Italianate architecture The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

and

Classical Revival architecture Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

and work by

Elmer Dunlap Elmer E. Dunlap was an architect of Indianapolis, Indiana and a contractor from Columbus, Indiana, who worked often on projects designed by prolific architect William Ittner. He designed a number of Indianapolis schools. According to one source ...

among its 31

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs an
map
William Wilson donated along Deer Creek for the town. The Indian mill sites located along the Creek made this a valuable site. Samuel Milroy lead the effort to make Delphi the county seat in May 1828. The nearby swamps meant that malaria, as endemic and the town grew slowly.Carroll County, Interim Report,; Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory; Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana; Indianapolis, Indiana The first permanent settler on record was Henry Robinson. With help from his family, the first log cabin was erected January 8, 1825, just south of Deer Creek on what is now known as "the hill" (later referred to as Robinson's hill). Daniel Baum and family also established their cabin on "Robinson's hill" where they started the first tavern "inn" that was frequented by settlers that passed through via the Indiana trail, which crossed Deer Creek just below their cabin. The Wabash River, located north and west of Delphi, provided an excellent travel route for early settlers. Thus Delphi received its initial thrust under leadership when French Canadian traders from the north and settlers from Ohio and Kentucky came to this area to obtain possession of land and trade on the Wabash River. Ephraim Chamberlain purchased the first land in this township on February 17, 1824. In 1826, the

Wabash and Erie Canal The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Over 460 miles long, it was th ...

opened trade to the east and southwest. The town experienced new growth. With the advent of rail transportation, the canal was put out of business with the boat in 1850, lost when the aqueduct over Deer Creek collapsed. The railroad arrived in Delphi in 1856. The railroad systems, which passed through Delphi, were the

Norfolk and Western The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

, Monon, and the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...

. The Fort Wayne-Wabash traction interurban line passed through Delphi in 1904. The interurban end when the motorbus was introduced.

Significant buildings

All structures are historically contributing towards the Historic District Status, unless otherwise noted. An ‘O’ rating signifies that the structure had enough historic or architectural significance to be considered for individual listing in the

. The ‘N’ rating signifies that the structure is above average and may, with further investigation be eligible for an individual listing. The ‘R’ or contributing rating signifies that the structure meet the basic inventory qualifications, but fails to meet individual merit, but in combination with other closely placed similar structures warrants inclusion in an

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

. West Monroe St *100 Block - House; Carpenter/Builder, c.1885 (N) *100 Block - Old Jail Out Building; Primitive, c.1865 (R) *118 - House; Queen Anne, c. 1885 (O) East Monroe St *216 - House;

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

; c.1855 (N) *222 - House;

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

, c.1870 (N) West Franklin St *010 - Commercial Building; Italianate, c.1855 (O) *115 - Ives Building; Italianate, c.1885 (O) East Franklin St *114 - Commercial Building; Italianate, c.1895 (N) *201 - RUFFIN-ROBINSON House; Queen Anne, c.1887 (O) *217 - ATKINSON-AFFLIS House; Classic, c.1895 (N) West Main St *101 - Carroll County Courthouse NR *104 - Commercial Building;

, c.1870 (O) *106 - Commercial Building; Italianate, c.1870 (O) *108 - Commercial Building; Italianate, c.1870 (O) *112 - Holt-Rinehart Commercial Building; Italianate, c.1857 (O) *116 - Commercial Building; Queen Anne, c.1885 (N) *202 - Commercial Building; Italianate, c.1875 (N) East Mains St *100 block - Fire Station; Romanesque, c.1920 (N) *102 – Odd Fellows Commercial Building;

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

, 1881 (O) *106 - Commercial Building; 19th Century Functional, c.1895 (N) *107- 109 - I.O.O.F. Commercial Building; Victorian Renaissance, 1874 (O) *111 - Bradshaw Commercial Building; Italianate, c.880 (N) *n/a - Commercial Building; Italianate, c.1870 (N) *112 – Dimmick Wollver Commercial Building; Italianate, c.1865 (O) *113-115 – Carl Brother's Block Commercial Building; Italianate, 1876 (O) *116 - Commercial Building; 19th Century Functional, c.1900 (N) *117 - Commercial Building; Victorian Renaissance, c.1875 (O) *123 - A.T. Bowen Bank Commercial Building; Italianate; c.1840 (O) *124 – Niewerth Commercial Building; Italianate; 1874 (O) NR *222 –

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

; Neo-Classic, c.1905 (O) *302 - First Presbyterian Church; Neo-Gothic, 1909 (N) South Washington St *101-103 - Margowski Commercial Building; Italianate, c.1880 (N) *105-107 – Old City Hall-Opera House NR **109 - Commercial Building; Italianate, 1864 (O) *111 - Commercial Building; Italianate, c.1870 (N) *120 - Gas Station Commercial Building; English Domestic, c.1920 (O) *119 - Commercial Building; Italianate, c.1880 (O) *210-212 – Lathrop-Kerlin Commercial Building; Queen Anne, c.1880 (O) *213 - Commercial Building; Romanesque, c.1890 (N) *215 – Masonic Temple (Delphi); Italianate, c.1875 (O) *N.A. - Courthouse;

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

, 1917 (O) *403 - Commercial Building; Italianate, c.1876 (N) South Indiana St *213 - First Presbyterian Church Office; Free Classic, 1895 (N) *219 – Smith-Darragh House,

, 1840 (O) North Indiana St *322 - House; Carpenter/Builder, c.1890 (N) *610 - House; Carpenter/Builder, 1850 (N) *712 - Gros House; Italianate, c.1860 (0) South Union St *105 - House; Italianate, c.1875 (N) *N.A. - House; Italianate, c1830/C.1875 (N) *219 – Dougan-Davis House; Italianate, c.1865 (O) North Market St *121 – Griffin-Mullin House;

, c.1855 (N) *205 – Margowski House;

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, 1865 (N)

Gallery

02 Margowski Commercial Bldg & Old City Hall-Opera Bldg P4250249.JPG, Margowski Commercial Building, Old City Hall & Opera house 02 102 E Main -IOOF Bldg P6080127.jpg, 102 E Main - IOOF Commercial Building (1874) 03 107-9 E Main -IOOF 1881 P6180140.jpg, 107 E Main – IOOF (1881) 02 City Hall n Opera House P6080128.jpg, Old City Hall and Opera House 02 112 Holt-Rinehart Commercial P6030119.jpg, Bradshaw & Rhinehart Commercial Bldgs 02 Carnegie Library P6080121.jpg, Public Library 02 302 E Main -First Presbyterian P6080117.jpg, First Presbyterian Church Carrol County 1916.jpg, Carroll County Courthouse 02 215 S Wash -Masonic Temple P4190105.jpg, Masonic Temple

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Italianate architecture in Indiana Neoclassical architecture in Indiana Geography of Carroll County, Indiana Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Carroll County, Indiana Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Delphi, Indiana