The Henry County Courthouse is a historic

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

located in New Castle,

Henry County, Indiana Henry County is a county located in east central Indiana, United States. As of 2020, the population was 48,914. The county seat and largest and only city is New Castle. Henry County is the main setting of the novel '' Raintree County'' by Ross ...

, USA, on the land designated as court house square by the Henry County Commissioners. The Court House was built between 1865 and 1869 at a cost of $120,000. An annex was added in 1905 at a cost of $44,000. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs. When it was built the commissioners wanted a fireproof courthouse. They did not want to see the courthouse burn again as it had in 1865. Architect Isaac Hodgson provided them with what they wanted, but with a

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

and a 110-foot clock tower. The mansard roof was unusual for a midwestern public building in the 1860s. It became popular later, but the Henry County Court House was probably the earliest example of the style for public buildings in the midwest. Henry County claims the distinction of being the Raintree County described in Ross Lockridge Jr.'s book ''Raintree County'' in part because the Henry County Court House is pictured inside the front cover of the book and the book includes references to places in Henry County. It was added to 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 1981. It is located in the

New Castle Commercial Historic District The New Castle Commercial Historic District is a national historic district located at New Castle, Henry County, Indiana. It encompasses 64 contributing buildings in the central business district of New Castle. It developed between about th ...

References

External links

Photographs of the Henry County Courthouse
from the Ball State University Digital Media Repository. County courthouses in Indiana New Castle, Indiana Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Henry County, Indiana Buildings and structures in Henry County, Indiana Clock towers in Indiana 1886 establishments in Indiana Historic district contributing properties in Delaware {{HenryCountyIN-NRHP-stub