Monroe County Courthouse (Indiana) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Monroe County Courthouse
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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Southern front of the courthouse
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 Location in Indiana
Location in the United States
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| Location | Bloomington, Indiana |
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| Built | 1908 |
| Built by | Caldwell & Drake |
| Architect | Wing and Mahurin of Fort Wayne |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts |
| NRHP reference No. | 76000012 |
| Added to NRHP | October 8, 1976 |
The Monroe County Courthouse in Bloomington, Indiana is a really cool building with a special design called Beaux Arts. It was built a long time ago in 1908. This building is super important because it's where the local government for Monroe County, Indiana works. It was added to a list of important historical places, called the National Register of Historic Places, in 1976.
Contents
A Look Back: The Courthouse's History
The Very First Courthouse
When Monroe County was first created, one of the first things the leaders, called county commissioners, decided was to build a courthouse. This happened way back in 1818! They wanted a temporary log cabin courthouse built quickly, by August of that year. This first building was probably located near where the Waldron Arts building is today.
Samuel Elliot built this log cabin courthouse in August 1818. It cost less than $400, which was a lot of money back then! It was a simple, one-story building with two rooms, like a double log cabin. One room was 20 feet (6.1 m) by 20 feet (6.1 m), and the other was 20 feet (6.1 m) by 12 feet (3.7 m). A 10-foot (3.0 m) entryway separated the two rooms.
The building was 10 feet (3.0 m) high to the roof's edge. Each room had one window facing east to catch the morning sun. Later, people in the village added a chimney to each room when they decided to use the building as a school too.
Where Was the First Courthouse?
The log cabin courthouse was located on what is now the south side of the town square, at 116 South Walnut Street. In 1988, a local historian named Dennis E. Matthews asked an artist, Jim Woods, to draw a picture of the first courthouse. This drawing was based on descriptions from another historian, Robert Leffler. Later, Matthews even made a model of the log cabin courthouse, which you can see at the Monroe County History Center.
The Second Courthouse
The log cabin building soon became too small for all the county's business. So, in May 1819, a contract was made to build a new brick courthouse with a strong stone foundation. This new building was finished in May 1826. It was made bigger and updated in the 1850s and again in the 1870s.
The Current Courthouse
The second courthouse was eventually replaced by the beautiful stone building we see today. It was designed by architects Wing and Mahurin from Fort Wayne, Indiana. The construction happened from 1907 to 1908, and it was built by contractors Drake and Caldwell. The cost was about $188,000.
An interesting detail is that the weather vane from the old building was saved. This weather vane was made of copper and shaped like a fish. It was placed on top of the dome of the new courthouse! In 1984, the building got a big update and renovation that cost around $2.3 million.
In the Media
The Monroe County Courthouse can be seen for a short moment in the 1979 movie, Breaking Away.
Images for kids
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Interior of the courthouse's dome
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The top of the dome, with the fish weathervane
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Courthouse and Civil War Monument
