The Vigo County Courthouse is a courthouse

Courthouse

A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...

 in Terre Haute, Indiana

Terre Haute, Indiana

Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...

. The seat of government for Vigo County

Vigo County, Indiana

Vigo County is a county located along the western border of the U.S. state of Indiana. Vigo County is included in the Terre Haute, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county seat is Terre Haute....

, the courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1983.

Temporary meeting place

Vigo County

Vigo County, Indiana

Vigo County is a county located along the western border of the U.S. state of Indiana. Vigo County is included in the Terre Haute, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county seat is Terre Haute....

 was formed in 1818 by the Indiana General Assembly

Indiana General Assembly

The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate...

 and construction of the county's first courthouse began that year. In the meantime, the temporary courthouse was the Eagle and Lion Tavern on the corner of Wabash Avenue and Second Street.

Construction

Early records show that on May 13, 1818, Nathaniel P. Huntington was allowed $10 for drawing up bonds; John M. Coleman $350 in part pay for building foundations; William Durham $400 in part pay for building walls, and Elihu Hovey and John Brocklebank $300 in part pay for building Court House. In November 1818, public records show that Charles B. Modesitt was allowed $25 for "clearing off the public square," indicating that the work of building the Court House began in 1818, though the structure was not completed until 1822.

This original structure was brick

Brick

A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...

 with a broad arched transom

Transom

Transom may refer to:* Transom , a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window* Transom , one of the beams running athwart the ship's hull at the fashion timbers or the surface that forms the flat back panel of a stern of a vessel* Operation Transom, a major bombing raid* Transom knot,...

 and an interior with elevated box seats and steps. A center aisle ran through the center of the building, dividing the structure into a south side dedicated to seating and a north side for the express use of the court and room for a judge's bench

Bench (law)

Bench in legal contexts means simply the location in a courtroom where a judge sits. The historical roots of that meaning come from the fact that judges formerly sat on long seats or benches when presiding over a court...

, lawyers' tables and a jury box.

Community importance

The bottom floor of the courthouse was completed in 1822 and quickly became the place for court business, political gatherings, elections, public town meetings, lectures, sermons and more. Sometime in 1834-35, Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith was founder of what later became known as the Latter Day Saint movement or Mormons.Joseph Smith may also refer to:-Latter Day Saints:* Joseph Smith, Sr. , father of Joseph Smith...

 and Sidney Rigdon

Sidney Rigdon

Sidney Rigdon was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Baptist background:...

 held meetings there defending the fledgling Latter Day Saint movement

Latter Day Saint movement

The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...

. In the 1850s, George W. Julian delivered an Abolition

Abolitionism

Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...

 speech in the courthouse, where an angry mob gathered to prevent him from speaking but eventually departed.

Numerous notable lawyers from the region began their careers at the first Vigo County Courthouse, including Thomas H. Blake

Thomas H. Blake

Thomas Holdsworth Blake was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.Born in Calvert County, Maryland, Blake attended the public schools.He studied law in Washington, D.C.....

, James Whitcomb

James Whitcomb

James Whitcomb was a Democratic United States Senator and the eighth Governor of Indiana. As governor during the Mexican-American War, he oversaw the formation and deployment of the state's levies...

, Elisha Mills Huntington

Elisha Mills Huntington

Elisha Mills Huntington was an American lawyer, politician, prosecutor, judge and federal jurist.Born in Butternuts, New York, Huntington moved to Terre Haute, Indiana to join his older brother Nathaniel Huntington. He read law and was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1827 on his 21st birthday...

 and Edward A. Hannegan

Edward A. Hannegan

Edward Allen Hannegan was a United States Representative and Senator from Indiana.-Early life and education:...

.

Colonel Francis Vigo

On July 4, 1832, Colonel Francis Vigo

Francis Vigo

Francis Vigo was an Italian-American who aided the American forces during the Revolutionary War and helped found a public university in Vincennes, Indiana, USA....

, the county's namesake, traveled from his home in Vincennes, Indiana

Vincennes, Indiana

Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...

, to visit Terre Haute and the urging of some of its prominent citizens. Impressed by the city, Vigo remembered the courthouse in his will (dated December 9, 1834) by a gift of $500 to Vigo County to be used "in the purchace of a bell for the courthouse of said county, on which will be inscribed 'Presented by Francis Vigo.'"

Need for a new courthouse

This structure served until 1866. In 1868, the structure was declared unfit for use. A temporary courthouse was established in a four-story brick building on the corner of Third and Ohio streets until a more permanent structure could be built. It was assumed that the original courthouse would be fixed and return to use, but this never occurred, and the temporary structure ended up being used for 22 years. The building of a new courthouse was stalled in part by squabbling among the city council and a special election in May 1871 in which the vote was 450 for and nearly 4,000 against the project, where it was then ordered that no new courthouse be built at that time.

Second courthouse

Construction

Work began on the current structure when a 10,000 pound cornerstone was laid on August 28, 1884, with ceremonies sponsored by the Freemasons with a principal address by the Honorable D. W. Voorhees. This event was attended by many from the surrounding country as well as adjacent towns in Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

.

Designed by Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 architect Samuel Hannaford

Samuel Hannaford

Samuel Hannaford was an American architect based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Some of the best known landmarks in the city, such as Music Hall and City Hall, were of his design...

, the building was constructed by the Terre Haute Stone Company at a cost of $443,000. The courthouse is made from Indiana limestone

Indiana Limestone

Indiana Limestone, also known as Bedford Limestone is a common regional term for Salem limestone, a geological formation primarily quarried in south central Indiana between Bloomington and Bedford....

 gathered from Stinesville, Indiana

Stinesville, Indiana

Stinesville is a town in Bean Blossom Township, Monroe County, Indiana, United States. The population was 194 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bloomington, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

 quarries. Cast-iron work in the roof and dome as well as windows and cresting were completed by Phoenix Foundry and Machine Works.

Originally, the main floor consisted of offices, with two large, high-ceiling courtrooms on the second floor. Elegantly finished and furnished, the courthouse was heated with steam from a detached building to the south and featured a hydraulic elevator.

In accordance with the will of Francis Vigo, the courthouse features a two-ton bell made in 1887. The bell was bought for $2,500, partially funded by the money left in Vigo's will.

The courthouse was dedicated on June 7, 1888.