The Paulding County Courthouse is a historic governmental building in downtown Paulding,

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. A

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesq ...

building erected in 1886, it is the third courthouse to serve the residents of

Paulding County Paulding County is the name of two counties in the United States of America: * Paulding County, Georgia Paulding County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. Part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, it had an ...

.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 1133. When Paulding County was established in 1820, the small community of Charloe was named the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

. This arrangement proved to be short-lived: the community of Paulding grew significantly while Charloe stagnated, and the county seat was eventually moved to the larger village. Once Paulding had been named the county seat, the county's second courthouse was erected on the village's central square in 1837. After approximately fifty years of service, this

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction * Framing (co ...

structure was demolished, and the present structure was built on the same location in 1886. Designed by the

E.O. Fallis Company Edward Oscar Fallis, often known as E.O. Fallis, was an American architect of Toledo, Ohio. A number of his works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Works include (with attribution): * First Church of Christ, Scientist, ...

and built by workers under the direction of

general contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

Rudolph Ehrhart, the courthouse is a brick structure with a stone foundation and a roof of asphalt.,

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connec ...

, 2007. Accessed 2010-08-10. Two-and-one-half stories tall with a central tower, the courthouse features nearly identical entrances on each of its four sides. Measuring square, and tall at the tip of its domed tower, the courthouse was patterned after the

Lenawee County Courthouse The Lenawee County Courthouse is a county courthouse located at 309 North Main Street ( M-52) in the city of Adrian in central Lenawee County, Michigan. It was designated as a Michigan Historic Site on November 14, 1974, and later added to the ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, which was also designed by the Fallis architects.Paulding County Courthouse

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, 2010. Accessed 2010-08-10. In 1974, the Paulding County Courthouse was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

, due to its well-preserved architecture that was deemed significant statewide. It is one of four buildings in Paulding County on the Register, along with a rural

round barn A round barn is a historic barn design that could be octagonal, polygonal, or circular in plan. Though round barns were not as popular as some other barn designs, their unique shape makes them noticeable. The years from 1880 to 1920 represent th ...

, a former train station in the village of Antwerp, and the Carnegie library in Paulding.

References

{{NRHP in Paulding County, Ohio Government buildings completed in 1886 County courthouses in Ohio Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Buildings and structures in Paulding County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Paulding County, Ohio Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Ohio