Franklin County, Ohio

Founding: April 30, 1803
Parent county: Ross

Namesake: Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), Founding Father and polymath
Seats: Franklinton (1803–1824); Columbus (1824–)

Land area: 532 square miles

Population (2010): 1,163,414

Population (historic): 3,486 (1810); 42,909 (1850); 86,797 (1880); 361,055 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1810–1930; 1940–1970; 1980–2000

Subdivisions: 16 cities; 10 villages; five CDPs; 17 townships

National Register listings: 331

Income (per capita): $26,909

Income (median household): $49,087
Business establishments: 27,088 (42.9 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 60,679 (11.4%)
Vacant houses: 58,669 (11%)
Sources of settlement: Pennsylvania, Virginia, Germany, Maryland, and Connecticut

Columbus

Namesake: Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), Italian explorer

Founding: 1812 (platting); 1813 (post office); 1816 (incorporation)

Population (2010): 787,033

Population (historic): 2,435 (1830); 18,554 (1860); 125,560 (1900); 290,564 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1830–1850; 1860–1930; 1940–1970; 1980–
Typology: Grid (with capitol square)

Courthouse Prehistory

- Between 1803 and 1808, the Franklin County government met at an unidentified private residence in Franklinton.

First Courthouse

Location: Franklinton

Construction: 1807–1808

Years of service: 1808–1824

Typology: Cube; brick; two-story

Style: Federal (?)

Builder: Lucas Sullivant

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Octagonal cupola; projecting central bay; three-bay facade; gable-spanning cornice; doorway with Federal (?) surround.

For an illustration, see this page.

Second Courthouse

Location: Columbus

Construction: 1824 (?)

Years of service: 1824–1840

Typology: Cube; brick; two-story

Style: Federal

Builder: Unknown

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Central cupola; rooftop balustrade; corbelled cornice; round-arched entry; three-by-five bay arrangement; splayed lintels; keystones; twelve-over-twelve windows.

For an illustration, see this page.

Third Courthouse

Location: Columbus

Construction: 1840 (?)

Years of service: 1840–1887 (?)

Typology: Unclassifiable; stone (?); two-story

Style: Greek Revival

Builder: Unknown

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Two distinct structures connected by a hyphen—a standard "temple-form" Greek Revival section (with massive columns and a full entablature), and a cube-shaped, two-story building with an inset first-floor porch, parapeted walls, and rather inventive carvings.

For an illustration, see this page.

Fourth Courthouse

Postcard (1904) courtesy of Columbus Memory.

Location: 380 South High Street (Columbus)

Construction: 1885–1887 / 1951

Years of service: 1887–1974

Typology: Monumental (tripartite); stone; three-and-a-half-story (with raised basement)

Style: Second Empire / Classical Revival

Builder: George Maetzel

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Massive clock tower with pediments, topped by a statue of Lady Justice; metal rooftop balustrade; circular and pedimented dormers; projecting pediments support by paired columns; bays divided by pilasters; bracketed entablature; round-arched and pedimented windows; scored first-floor stonework.

Fifth Courthouse

Location: 375 South High Street (Columbus)

Construction: 1974 / 1991 / 2010

Years of service: 1974–

Typology: Modern office blocks

Style: None

Architects: Prindle and Patrick / Arquitectonica

Cost: Unknown

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: None. Several structures comprise Franklin County's government complex.

Sources: Wikipedia; Courthouse History; United States Census Bureau; Intrepid Historical Services; Centennial History of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio: Volume I (Clarke, 1909).