Henry County, Ohio

Founding: December 26, 1834 (declared in 1820)
Parent county: Unorganized territory

Namesake: Patrick Henry (1736–1799), Founding Father
Seat: Napoleon (1834–)

Land area: 416 square miles

Population (2010): 28,215

Population (historic): 2,503 (1840); 14,028 (1870); 27,282 (1900); 22,524 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1830–1900; 1950s

Subdivisions: One city; eight villages; one CDP; 13 townships

National Register listings: Four

Income (per capita): $22,638

Income (median household): $48,367
Business establishments: 566 (49.8 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 4,161 (34.8%)
Vacant houses: 871 (7.3%)
Sources of settlement: Germany, Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia

Napoleon

Namesake: Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), French emperor

Founding: 1832 (platting); 1835 (post office)

Population (2010): 8,749

Population (historic): 566 (1850); 2,018 (1870); 3,639 (1900); 4,545 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1840–1880; 1890–1910; 1940–1980
Typology: Grid

Courthouse Prehistory

- Between 1834 and 1844, a double-pen log tavern, owned by George Stout, hosted meetings of the Henry County government.

First Courthouse

Location: Perry Street and Washington Street (Napoleon)

Construction: 1844

Years of service: 1844–1847

Typology: Unknown; braced-frame; two-story

Style: Unknown

Builder: Michael Shuman

Cost: $2,000 ($53,460 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Razed (burned in 1847)

Features of note: Appearance unknown.

Second Courthouse

Location: Napoleon

Construction: 1850s

Years of service: 1850s–1879

Typology: Unknown; brick; two-story

Style: Unknown

Builders: James Durbin, Achilles Smith, and William Russell

Cost: $7,496 ($224,274 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Razed (burned in 1879)

Features of note: Appearance unknown. One source describes the building as "plain."

Third Courthouse

Photo by Nyttend.

Location: 660 North Perry Street (Napoleon)

Construction: 1880–1882

Years of service: 1882–

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

Style: Second Empire

Architect: David W. Gibbs

Cost: $95,000 ($2,537,722 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: Multi-tiered central clock tower with balustrades and pediments, topped by a statue of Lady Justice; corner pavilions; mansard roof; pedimented dormers; denticulate, swag-adorned entablature; stone and brick pilasters; windows interrupted by string course; neoclassical porches at entrances. Identical to the Union County Courthouse.



Sources: Wikipedia; Courthouse History; United States Census Bureau; History of Henry and Fulton Counties, Ohio (Mason, 1888).