The Geauga County Courthouse is located at 100 Short Court Street in Chardon,

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 ...

. The cornerstone was laid September 10, 1869 and construction was completed on August 20, 1870. The

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, ...

was listed on the National Register in 1974 as part of the

Chardon Courthouse Square District The Chardon Courthouse Square District is located in Chardon, Ohio, and contains the Geauga County Courthouse as well as the several buildings serving as the courthouse annexes. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Place ...

History

Geauga County Geauga County ( ) is a county located in the northeast portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,397. The county seat and largest city is Chardon. The county is named for an Onondaga or Seneca language ...

was established in 1806, settled initially by migrants primarily from New York and New England, part of the northern tier of culture and politics. It was carved out of

Trumbull County Trumbull County is a county in the far northeast portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 201,977. Its county seat and largest city is Warren, which developed industry along the Mahoning River. Trumbull Coun ...

. The county seat was first placed at

New Market New Market may refer to: Bangladesh *New Market, Dhaka *New Market, Khulna, in Sonadanga Model Thana *New Market, Chittagong, near Government City College, Chittagong India * New Market, Bhopal *New Market, Kolkata Jamaica *New Market, Jam ...

, where a courthouse was built. The records about this first courthouse are inconsistent and little is known about it. The next year, the county seat was reassigned to Chardon. Chardon quickly constructed a courthouse, which was completed in 1808. The one-room, log structure with a chimney was completely outfitted with wooden amenities. It had split-log benches, rough wood floors and a stick chimney. This courthouse served the county until 1813, when officials agreed a new and sturdier building was needed. The county arranged a competition for the new courthouse. The third courthouse was designed by Samuel King for $750 and was built of brick. The details are vague, as the records are conflicting. Some of its details are enmeshed in the records of the 1826 courthouse. The 1826

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

courthouse was built of brick, and rose two stories high on a rectangular foundation. Long windows lined the sides of the building and featured a Doric columned

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

. The hipped roof was pierced by a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

topped by a spire. In 1848, the building was adapted for use also as the new Chardon Library, the first branch of today's

Geauga County Public Library Geauga County Public Library, founded in 1848, is the main library system for Geauga County, Ohio. About Located in Geauga County, Ohio, the Geauga County Public Library includes four full-service community libraries in Bainbridge, Chardon, G ...

In July 1868 a massive fire broke out in downtown, destroying the courthouse and almost every other building along Main Street. However, none of its important records were lost. Arson was suspected but never proven. The county soon ran a competition for the design of its fourth courthouse. The design chosen was by Joseph Ireland. The construction contract was awarded to L.J. Randall. Randall died in 1869 and the project was then overseen by the

Meadville, Pennsylvania Meadville is a city in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 13,050 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The first permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania, Meadville is withi ...

construction firm of Carpenter and Matthews, whom Randall had hired as builders. The brick and stone structure was built at a price of $88,862. The courthouse standing today is basically the same, although renovations have added some minor interior alterations and upgrades.

Exterior

The courthouse features red brick exterior with light sandstone

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...

. The building contains a central projection, also framed by quoins. The windows on the first floor are low arched windows on either side of the projection. The second-floor windows are interesting as the windows contain long arched windows with circular windows above with smaller circular tracings. The whole window is framed by a sandstone casing and white wooden trim. The flat 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 ...

with decorative brackets. The tower consists of an octagonal louvered

and a

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

with four teardrop shaped clock faces and a

weathervane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an list of weather instruments, instrument used for showing the wind direction, direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ' ...

topping the central spire. The entrance contains double doors topped by a

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

. Above the door is a balcony lined with wrought iron railings. A central window is located in the middle of the tower with two long arched windows, each topped with circular windows like the ones above the second floor windows. The entire building, base to weathervane is tall. In 1974 the courthouse was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

(NRHP) as part of the

Renovations

The courthouse has undergone several revisions since its initial construction. It was wired for

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

in 1898 and

central heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. A central heating system has a Furnace (central heating), furnace that converts fuel or electricity to heat through processes. The he ...

was installed in 1902. An

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

to the third floor was added in 1960, and in 1965, the second-floor courtroom underwent major renovations, including the removal of the dome in its ceiling. This created enough room above it for the addition of a second courtroom on the third floor, which housed the county's

probate court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as orphans' courts o ...

. A mechanical

clock A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays time. The clock is one of the oldest Invention, human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month, a ...

was added to the courthouse's bell tower in 1908. This initial clock was replaced by an electric one in 1940, which was damaged by

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

in 1978. Both the clock and tower were renovated in 1995.Stith, p.4

References

External links

Courthouse info including timelineGeauga County Government's websiteCity of Chardon
{{Registered Historic Places Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Buildings and structures in Geauga County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Geauga County, Ohio Italianate architecture in Ohio Government buildings completed in 1870 County courthouses in Ohio Clock towers in Ohio Chardon, Ohio Historic district contributing properties in Ohio

History

Exterior

Renovations

References

Further reading

External links