Putnam County Courthouse | |
| |
Location | Courthouse Sq., Ottawa, Ohio |
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Coordinates | 41°1′11″N 84°2′47″W / 41.01972°N 84.04639°W |
Area | 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) |
Built | 1912 |
Architect | Frank Packard; Ralph Snyder |
Architectural style | Beaux Arts |
NRHP reference No. | 74001608 [1] |
Added to NRHP | May 3, 1974 |
The Putnam County Courthouse is a historic governmental building in downtown Ottawa, Ohio, United States. A two- story building, [2] located at 245 E. Main Street, [3] it was built in 1912 in the Beaux-Arts style of architecture. [1]
The present courthouse is the fourth such structure to serve Putnam County. When the county was organized in 1834, the village of Kalida was designated the county seat, [2] and a wooden courthouse was built there. It only served the county for four years, being replaced by a larger brick courthouse and jail complex in 1838. This building remained in use for more than a quarter century, but it was ruined by a devastating fire on December 18, 1864. With no courthouse, discussion arose about moving the county seat to Ottawa, which was growing more steadily than Kalida and was served by a railroad line, and which was located closer to the center of the county. [4] An election in 1866 resulted in the seat being moved to Ottawa, [2] and the village paid $15,000 for the erection of a new courthouse. [4]
Approximately forty years after the construction of the third courthouse, a movement grew for its replacement by a newer structure. After voters supported the construction of a new courthouse in a 1909 election, the county commissioners selected a Columbus architect, [4] Frank Packard, to design the new building. [2] Packard's design was a large Beaux-Arts structure, built on a stone foundation with stone walls and a tile roof of ceramic; [5] he made extensive use of marble, stained glass, and oak wood. The entire structure cost slightly less than $200,000 to complete. [4]
Today, the courthouse remains actively used by Putnam County's governmental officials. Cases in the Common Pleas Court are heard in Putnam County's main courtroom, located on the building's third floor. [3] Other offices located in the courthouse include those of the county commissioners, the county auditor, the Clerk of Courts, the county engineer, and the county prosecutor. [6] An annex is located at 336 E. Main Street, one block east of the courthouse. [7]
In the early years of the twentieth century, as plans were being laid for the courthouse's construction, the building committee aimed to erect a structure that would be renowned in the year 2000. [4] Their goal has succeeded: in the years since that time, careful maintenance has prevented deterioration, and no major changes have been made. Today, the courthouse is renowned as an architectural masterpiece; architectural historians have ranked it as the best Beaux-Arts courthouse anywhere in Ohio. [2] The courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 because of its well preserved historic architecture, [1] which was seen as significant statewide. [5]