"One crisp, bright November day, my husband and I were driving from Columbus on U.S. Route 33 toward a Thanksgiving family reunion in Chicago. As we approached Wapakoneta, a tower emerged above the treetops. Even at a distance I recognised it as part of a courthouse; Ohioans easily identify them, especially in smaller communities throughout the state. But my sight of the courthouse that morning brought many questions to mind. Who built it? When? Why does it look the way it does? What is inside? After seeing one, have you seen them all? Before the turkey was carved, I had resolved to visit Ohio's eighty-eight county courthouses and find out the answers for myself." - Susan W. Thrane, from the Preface The first court session in Ohio took place on September 2, 1788, in a blockhouse at Marietta, Washington County. Arthur St. Clair, the first governor of what was then the Northwest Territory, organised the Court of Common Pleas when he established the county by proclamation on July 16, 1788. Law and the courts have played a central role in Ohio ever since.
With statehood in 1803 and the growth of communities, the settlers built log courthouses at first and then moved on to more sophisticated materials and architectural designs. The county courthouses literally became the central symbol of each community. This magnificent, lavishly illustrated book presents each of Ohio's 88 existing courthouses through a sumptuous layout of colour and black-and-white images. In addition, Susan Thrane provides a brief history of each county with relevant details about the design of the courthouse and highlights of the events which occurred there. Along with discussion of the earliest building, the book presents the existing buildings in chronological order from oldest to youngest. Thus, Highland County (constructed in 1832-35) comes first and Franklin County (1969-72) is last. This is a book to be treasured by all Ohioans.
- ISBN10 025333778X
- ISBN13 9780253337788
- Publish Date 1 November 2000
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 11 July 2009
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Indiana University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 260
- Language English