The Fulton County Courthouse, built in 1870, is a historic

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

building located in

Wauseon Wauseon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Fulton County, Ohio, approximately 31 mi (51 km) west of Toledo. The population was 7,568 at the time of the 2020 census. History Wauseon was platted 1853 when the Michigan Southern Air ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. On May 7, 1973, it was added to the National Register.

History

1851_railroad_map_showing_ottokee_as_fulton_county_seat

1890_railroad_map_of_ohio_fulton_county_excerpt

Fulton County was established in 1850 from parts of

Williams Williams may refer to: People * Williams (surname), a surname English in origin, but popular in Wales, 3rd most common in the United Kingdom * Williams Nwaneri, American football player Places Astronomy * Williams (lunar crater) * Williams ...

and Lucas counties. The

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Colu ...

appointed three commissioners to select the county seat of the newly formed county. They chose a location at the geographical center of the county, and named it "Centre." The village was renamed Ottokee shortly thereafter at the suggestion of

Col. Dresden Howard Colonel Dresden Winfield Huston (D.W.H.) Howard (1817 – 1897) was an American, Ohio statesman, who lived in Winameg, Fulton County, Ohio. Life and work Howard was born 3 November 1817 in Dresden Yates Co., New York. His family moved to For ...

to honor the

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ) are an Indigenous North American people who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, now in jurisdictions of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Their territory long prec ...

Chief Ot-to-kee. The courts were held in the home of Robert Howard until a courthouse could be constructed. In 1851 the completed two-story wood-frame structure rising to a dome. This courthouse burned in a fire in 1864 forcing the county to hastily plan a new second courthouse. This second courthouse was constructed out of brick. The facade was punctuated by

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

separating the arched windows. This courthouse served the county until a decision was made to move the county seat. Years after the move the old courthouse was still in use as the county infirmary. Ottokee remained the county seat and defeated many attempts to move the courts, until 1869, when a railroad company surveyed the area and chose

as a stopping point. The county seat relocated there shortly thereafter. The same act that established the new county seat was passed, it also included $5,000 to complete a new courthouse. This new courthouse, the third for the county, and the first for Wauseon, was completed in 1872 and is in use today. The architect, C.C. Miller, designed the courthouse in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

style and Alexander Voss and H.B. Bensman were responsible for building and construction. The total cost of the courthouse was $45,722.27.

Exterior

The primary bulk of the courthouse is a long rectangular block with a central projection; an addition was added to the rear of the building. The red brick structure rests on a rusticated sandstone foundation, which is pierced by small square windows. The first floor is illuminated by square windows with a slight arch and each is topped with a decorative header; the second floor windows are long arched windows with the same header treatment. Between the windows are pilasters rising from the foundation to the roofline. The hipped roof rests on an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

decorated with

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Rev ...

moldings. The roof rises to a flat roof which in turn supports a central tower with arched windows. The central projection contains a portico with arched openings and contains the entrance. Arched windows light the second floor and a balcony is located in the front. The entablature carries over onto the projection with the tower rising for another two levels before terminating in platform lined with a

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

. Below this platform is a four-faced clock and arched vents where the courthouse bell is kept.

Interior

The building's main entry is set in the middle of the front tower. After walking through the vestibule, one can turn immediately to the left and climb a staircase to the second-

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Narrative, an account of imaginary or real people and events ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting ** News story, an event or topic reported by a news orga ...

courtroom. Extensive artwork is present in the courtroom, including

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

s of interactions between Indians and Americans during the county's earliest years, multiple

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

s, and wood carvings, plus a dome with

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

Renovations

In October 2018, major renovations began on the courthouse. Fulton County commissioners awarded a $3.86 million contract last week to Mosser Construction for the renovation work, which is expected to take 10 months, according to the commissioners’ office. The project's total budget, including design costs, was set at about $4.2 million. The project will include replacement of the heating and cooling systems, the addition of security and technology features, a new elevator that is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, updates to offices, and a historic restoration of the common pleas courtroom. Among the historical renovations envisioned are original elevated theater-style seating in the common pleas courtroom, where a law library was constructed in 1958.

History

Exterior

Interior

Renovations

References

Further reading