I have selfish, mixed feelings about courthouse restorations. While I love seeing old buildings preserved and modernized, it’s frustrating to discover ongoing work at a courthouse I’ve driven over a hundred miles to visit! That’s exactly what happened when I traveled to Lima, Ohio, to photograph the stunning Allen County Courthouse.
Allen County has a history that spans back more than two hundred years. In 1795, the Treaty of Greenville reserved northwestern Ohio for Native Americans. European settlement was blocked until 1817, when the Treaty of Maumee Rapids was signed1. The Ohio Legislature created Allen County in 1820, and Christopher Wood established the first permanent settlement four years later2.
Land for a new county seat was dedicated in 1829, and Lima was founded in 1831. The area’s first courts were held in the cabin of James Daniels, which stood near the present path of Market Street3. Officials continued to meet at the homes of Absalom Brown and Joseph Edwards until a pioneer courthouse was built for $175 in 18334. The primitive building lasted until 1840 when a second structure that combined the courts and the jail was built for $13,000.
Allen County’s second courthouse, a two-story brick and stone structure, was a significant upgrade from its log predecessor. Its entrance boasted four imposing columns supporting a pediment, topped by an enormous octagonal belfry. Unfortunately, the grand building was eventually outgrown when Lima became a crucial player in an oil boom.
As the city emerged as a world-renowned builder of locomotives, it was clear the courthouse’s days were numbered. Commissioners hired George Maetzel to design a replacement built between 1881 and 1882. An immigrant from Saxony, Maetzel initially settled in Providence, Rhode Island, before the Civil War. He later moved to Pittsburgh, where he worked as a railroad engineer and eventually relocated to Columbus.
There, Maetzel established his own architectural office and worked there until his untimely death at fifty-three5. Ultimately, he became a prolific courthouse designer! Maetzel was responsible for structures in Columbus, Madison, and Shelby counties, but Allen County’s was his first. The $360,000 Second Empire building measures 120 feet square and rises three stories above downtown Lima.
The sandstone courthouse features both ashlar and smooth stone trim6. Framed by corner projections, its clock tower rises 135 tall from above a mansard roof.The courthouse roof and tower were undergoing major renovations the day I went to Lima. The clock faces were even missing their hands!
Begun a year before I visited, the project aimed to restore the tower and repair the leaking roof that was damaging the building’s interior. It was part of a larger, multi-phase plan to relocate all court functions from the adjacent 1992 justice center into the historic structure.
Aside from the courthouse, Allen County has one of the most intriguing amalgamations of law enforcement buildings from all eras I’ve ever seen assembled on a single campus. The justice center is the most intimidating. Designed by Dayton architects Lorenz and Adams, the modern building rises a blocky five stories and connects to the courthouse by an elevated walkway. The building’s setbacks, pilasters, and textures suggest depth and respect the scale of the historic courthouse.
The next building, a 1960s-era former law enforcement office, sits at the southwest corner of the square. It was built to replace a “German Style7” sheriff’s home built during a time that the jailer was required to live at the jail and his wife was required to be its matron. Today, the sheriff resides at his own dwelling; his office is in the justice center. Fortunately, his wife is free to do as she pleases.
An awesome old jail sits behind the midcentury sheriff’s office, and it has an intriguing story. Built in 1871, the structure was said to look “like one immense granite rock8” upon its completion. In a weird twist, it’d already been placed on the Nation Register of Historic Places by the time alterations became necessary to house more inmates. Rather than changing the building’s character, officials had a contractor remove the jail’s roof, remove its guts out from above, renovate the inside, and reseal it. Brilliant!
The courthouse looms over all of its neighbors, but it was undergoing significant work the day I was in Lima. The clocks were even missing their hands! Beginning in 2017, the project renovated the tower and repaired the roof to stop leaking that was destroying the building’s interior. It was all part of a greater, multiphase effort to relocate all the courts to the structure from the 1992 justice center next door9.
Next door, work to restore the courthouse clocktower and roof was completed shortly after I visited. Last year, officials unveiled the second part of the renovated plan, which set out to combine Allen County’s judicial system under the single, restored roof10. The project was predicated on the construction of a new Allen County Administration Building to sit to the south of the historic courthouse, and work was expected to start last spring11.
I’m thrilled that the Allen County Courthouse is receiving the attention it deserves. The building has stood as a true gem in downtown Lima for more than a hundred and forty years, which is an astounding track record for a city that’s lost more than its share of its historic buildings. Construction can be frustrating and disruptive, but my photos of the courthouse truly represent a moment in time! That’s ironic since its clock was missing its hands, but I’m genuinely pleased to see such significant effort and resources dedicated to preserving this majestic landmark.
TL;DR
Allen County (pop. 102,351, 64/88)
Lima (pop. 37,117)
Built: 1882
Cost: $360,000 ($9.19 million today)
Architect: George H. Maetzel
Style: Second Empire
Courthouse Square: Shelbyville Square
Height: 135 feet
Current Use: County offices and courts
Photographed: 4/1/18
Sources Cited
1 Harrison, R.H. (1880). Atlas of Allen County, Ohio, from Records and Original Surveys. R.H. Harrison [Philadelphia]. Book.
2 Ohio Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (2007). The Newberry [Chicago]. Web. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
3 Knapp, H. S. (1875). History of Allen County in Historical Atlas of Allen County, Ohio. H.H. Hardesty & Co. [Chicago]. Book.
4 History of Allen County, Ohio (1885). Warner, Beers & Co. [Chicago]. Book.
5 Taylor, W.A. (1909). Centennial History of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio. S.K. Clarke Publishing Company [Columbus]. Book.
6 Thrane, Susan W., Patterson, B., & Patterson, T. “County Courthouses of Ohio” Indiana University Press [Bloomington]. November 1, 2000. Print.
7 “History of the Allen County Jail” Allen County, Ohio Sheriff’s Office [Lima]. Web. Retrieved 1/24/21.
8 8 (See footnote 4).
9 Ellerbrock, J. “County may borrow for courthouse work” LimaOhio.com. June 8, 2018. AIM Media Midwest Operating, LLC. Lima. Web. Retrieved 1/23/21.
10 (Grundy, P. (2023, February 6). Renovations coming soon: Commissioners want to update Allen County Courthouse. LimaOhio.com [Lima]. Web. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
11 Decker, A. (2024, February 5). The Scoop. Lima Rotary Cl ub [Lima]. Web. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
