Since 1815, three separate buildings have served as the Gibson County Courthouse in

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

Gibson County, Indiana Gibson County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 33,503. The county seat is Princeton. History In 1787, the fledgling United States defined the Northwest T ...

. The current building was constructed in 1884 and is located at the intersection of

Indiana State Road 64 State Road 64 in the U.S. State of Indiana is an east–west highway that crosses most of the southern portion of the state, covering a distance of about . The route parallels Interstate 64, which often causes confusion, as the widest dista ...

and

Indiana State Road 65 State Road 65 crosses in four counties in the southwest portion of the U.S. State of Indiana. Route description State Road 65 begins at State Road 66 west of Evansville. It arcs to the northwest to the town of Cynthiana and State Road 68, then ...

. It is an example of

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

architecture and was the model for Department 56's ''Original Snow Village Courthouse''. Gibson County's Courthouse is of very similar design to the Johnson County Courthouse in

Franklin, Indiana Franklin is a city in Johnson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 23,712 at the 2010 census. Located about south of Indianapolis, the city is the county seat of Johnson County. The site of Franklin College, the city attracts n ...

. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs.

History

The residence of Judge William Harrington was first used to conduct court business. Work on the first courthouse began on September 1, 1814. The building was constructed of bricks which were made nearby on the public square. It had two floors and measured 33 feet by 40 feet. It was first occupied in June 1815. The second courthouse was also made of brick and was completed in 1843 at a cost of about $9,000. The third (and current) courthouse was built on the site of the previous building. The cornerstone was laid on June 17, 1884, accompanied by a Masonic ceremony attended by several thousand people. The McDonald Brothers of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

designed the Romanesque Revival building,Counts and Dilts 1991, p. 58. which was constructed by local contractor Joseph Miller of

Washington, Indiana Washington is a city in Daviess County, Indiana. The population was 11,509 at the time of the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Daviess County. It is also the principal city of the Washington, Indiana Micropolitan Statistical Are ...

at a cost of $188,661.Stormont 1914, p. 83. Counts and Dilts 1991, p. 58, gives the cost as $118,661. The two-story building has a full basement and is made of red brick trimmed with stone; the interior is trimmed with black walnut and oak, and has mosaic tile floors. The trial of Leslie Irvin (also known as "Mad Dog Irvin") was conducted here in 1955. In 2006 and 2007, an aesthetic renovation project began. The exterior walls and corner towers as well as the central bell tower were repainted, and a gazebo donated by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana was placed on the courthouse lawn.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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Gallery

File:Gibson County, IN Courthouse - Southeast Corner & Civil War Monument.jpg, Southeast Corner and Civil War monument. File:Gibson County, IN Courthouse - Northwest Corner and Gazebo.jpg, Northwest Corner and Gazebo File:Gibson County Courthouse.jpg, Eastern face on Main Street

External links

Photographs of the Gibson County Courthouse
from the Ball State University Digital Media Repository {{Gibson County, Indiana Points of Interest Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Gibson County, Indiana County courthouses in Indiana Clock towers in Indiana Southwestern Indiana Princeton, Indiana Buildings and structures in Gibson County, Indiana Romanesque Revival architecture in Indiana 1883 establishments in Indiana