Since its founding Holmes County has had three different courthouses. It is thanks to the work of people like Thomas White of White Law Office, former Common Pleas judge, that we have such detailed historical knowledge of the countys courthouses.
The first courthouse was a simple structure, built in 1825 by William Painter. It was a two-story building situated on the northeast corner of Millersburgs public square. Construction costs for this building were divided between the public and the towns founders: Adam Johnson and Charles Miller. By 1832 the county was renting out the courthouse as a school over the winter. School directors Thomas Bell, John Blank and Samuel Robinson paid $9 per winter for this privilege.
The log cabin served until 1834 when the second courthouse was built, White said. The second courthouse was about where the Soldiers Monument is on the Courthouse Square.
The new courthouse was a brick structure, and interestingly enough it was nearly destroyed before it ever got put to use.
On May 11, 1834, a fire swept through Millersburg, razing 30 buildings. It is thought the fire started by a violent gust of wind that blew open the door to a residence in the area, blowing embers out of the homes fireplace. Most of Millersburgs residents were out of town at church that day, so the fire raged unchecked as few people were left to help put it out. Michael Wallick is credited with the salvation of the new courthouse. It is said he worked heroically to prevent the fire from spreading to the new building.
This new courthouse lasted until 1884 when it was torn down to make way for the third courthouse. The old [second] courthouse was not cared for very well, White said.
According to him, a Feb. 4, 1884 article in Coshoctons newspaper read, If there is a county in Ohio that needs a courthouse and needs it right away, it is Holmes. The miserable, old rattletrap they now have would insult a Coshocton County draft horse if he were put into it overnight.
The controversy swirling around the battered brick courthouse led to a public meeting to discuss the problem. During the meeting, White said, a huge Norway rat that had a nest in the old legal paper under the judges bench bounded across the room and escaped without injury.
With that it was decided a new courthouse, the third courthouse, would be built.
The county commissioners visited Cambridge to see the Guernsey County Courthouse, which had been designed by J.W. Yost. They liked what they saw and asked Yost to draw up plans for the current courthouse.
If you look at the two courthouses, you can see real similarities in the architecture between the courthouse in Cambridge and the one here in Millersburg, White said.
A contracting firm from Newark, Hibbert and Schaus won the bid to build the Holmes County Courthouse for $69,000.
There is an interesting part of Holmes County politics here, White said. The original bid did not provide for a lot, for instance, did not provide for any furniture, did not provide for a clock tower, did not provide for a lot of things.
Because of this the county legislature, without public discussion, decided to help fund the project, bringing the total cost of the courthouse to $110,000.
This sent the county newspapers at the time into an uproar. Editors wrote scathingly about the county commissioners.
They said if it had been $1,000 or $2,000, that would have been one thing, but $30,000 is kind of a waste of the taxpayers money, White said.
While unconfirmed, rumor has it that all three of the commissioners responsible for the overage were voted out of office in the next election.
The Holmes County Courthouse is today one of the most important historic landmarks in the county. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 because it was deemed to be historically significant architecture. Nowadays the courthouse features prominently as the centerpiece of the Millersburg Historic District, a nationally recognized collection of historic architecture.
