Fairfield County, Ohio

Founding: December 9, 1800
Parent counties: Ross and Washington

Name: A traditional, descriptive name; the county's fertile farmland
Seats: Lancaster (1800–)

Land area: 504 square miles

Population (2010): 146,156

Population (historic): 11,361 (1810); 30,538 (1860); 34,259 (1900); 44,010 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1810–1840; 1870s; 1900s; 1930s; 1950–2010

Subdivisions: Two cities; 15 villages; two CDPs; 13 townships

National Register listings: 44

Income (per capita): $26,130

Income (median household): $56,796
Business establishments: 2,571 (56.8 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 9,176 (15.5%)
Vacant houses: 4,526 (7.7%)
Sources of settlement: Pennsylvania, Germany, Virginia, Maryland, and Switzerland

Lancaster

Namesake: Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Founding: 1800 (platting, as New Lancaster); 1801 (post office); 1831 (incorporation)

Population (2010): 38,780

Population (historic): 1,037 (1820); 4,308 (1860); 8,991 (1900); 18,716 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1820–1840; 1850s; 1870–1970; 2000s
Typology: Grid

Courthouse Prehistory

- Between 1800 and 1807, Fairfield County's government met in various locations, including a log school building.

First Courthouse

Photo from Frank J. Roos's An Investigation into the Sources of Early Architectural Design in Ohio (1938); digitized by Christopher Busta-Peck.

Location: Broad Street and Main Street (Lancaster)

Construction: 1806–1807 / 1861

Years of service: 1807–1865

Typology: Cubic; brick; two-story

Style: Federal

Builder: Unknown

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Octagonal central cupola; three-by-two bay arrangement; projecting central bay; gable-spanning cornice; modillions; elliptical attic window; round-arched windows; operable shutters; twelve-over-nine windows; round-arched entry; surround with entablature and pilasters.

Second Courthouse

Location: 224 East Main Street (Lancaster)

Construction: 1867–1872

Years of service: 1872–

Typology: Center-hall (rectangular); stone; two-story (with raised basement)

Style: Italianate

Architect: Jacob B. Orman

Cost: $138,000 ($2,868,586 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: Corner rooftop urns; ornate entablature with paneling, brackets, dentils, and "rope" carvings; paneled sandstone walls; corner pilasters; round-arched windows with surrounding pilasters, keystones, and balustrades; bracketed cornice separating first and second floors; recessed entry with columns in antis; keystone face carving; tall exterior staircase.


Sources: Wikipedia; United States Census Bureau.