Butler County, Ohio

Founding: May 1, 1803
Parent county: Hamilton

Namesake: Richard Butler (1743–1791), Revolutionary War officer
Seat: Hamilton (1803–)

Land area: 467 square miles

Population (2010): 368,130

Population (historic): 11,150 (1810); 30,789 (1850); 42,579 (1880); 114,084 (1930)

Periods of population growth:  1800–1830; 1850–1930; 1940–2010

Subdivisions: Seven cities; five villages; eight CDPs; 13 townships

National Register listings: 88

Income (per capita): $25,892

Income (median household): $54,788
Business establishments: 6,982 (52.7 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 19,566 (13.2%)
Vacant houses: 13,852 (9.3%)
Sources of settlement: Germany, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Ireland

Hamilton

Namesake: Fort Hamilton (built in 1791), which once occupied the city's site

Founding: 1803 (platting); 1804 (post office); 1810 (incorporation)

Population (2010): 62,477

Population (historic): 660 (1820); 3,210 (1850); 12,122 (1880); 52,176 (1930)

Periods of population growth:
Typology: Grid (with central public square)

Courthouse Prehistory

- Between 1803 and 1810, Butler County officials met in the house of John Torrence, a one-story frame building.

First Courthouse

Location: Hamilton

Construction: 1810

Years of service: 1810–1816

Typology: Unknown; stone

Style: Unknown

Builder: Unknown

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Appearance unknown. The building doubled as a jail.

Second Courthouse

Location: Hamilton

Construction: 1813–1816 / 1837

Years of service: 1816–1885

Typology: Front-gabled (temple-form); brick; two-story

Style: Greek Revival

Builder: John Scott

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Square clock tower (topped by a statue of Lady Justice); pedimented portico; entablature; Ionic columns; operable shutters.

For a photo, see this page.

Third Courthouse

Photo by Greg Hume.

Location: 101 High Street (Hamilton)

Construction: 1885–1889

Years of service: 1889–

Typology: Axial; stone; two-and-a-half-story (with elevated basement)

Style: Classical Revival / Romanesque

Architect: David W. Gibbs

Cost: Unknown

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: Octagonal clock tower with finials, balustrade, dentils, and scored stonework; projecting central pediment; ornate tympanum carvings; denticulate cornice; dormers; string courses; rusticated stonework; Corinthian columns; Classical Revival porches.


Sources: Wikipedia; Courthouse History; United States Census Bureau; Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio (Bowen, 1905).