Hillsdale County, Michigan

Founding: February 11, 1835 (declared in 1829)
Parent county: Unorganized territory

Namesake: The county's terrain
Seats: Jonesville (1835–1843); Hillsdale (1843–)

Land area: 598 square miles

Population (2010): 46,688

Population (historic): 7,240 (1840); 32,723 (1880); 27,417 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1840–1870; 1930–1980; 1990s

Subdivisions: Four cities; five villages; 18 townships

National Register listings: Nine

Income (per capita): $22,435

Income (median household): $44,458
Business establishments: 780 (59.9 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 6,319 (29.1%)
Vacant houses: 4,057 (18.7%)
Sources of settlement: New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, England, and Ireland

Hillsdale

Namesake: Hillsdale County

Founding: 1839 (platting); 1839 (post office)

Population (2010): 8,305

Population (historic): 1,067 (1850); 3,441 (1880); 5,895 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1850–1870; 1880s; 1900s; 1940s; 1980s
Typology: Grid (irregular, with courthouse square)

Courthouse Prehistory

- In Jonesville, Hillsdale County's government convened at a Presbyterian church.

First Courthouse

Location: Hillsdale

Construction: 1843

Years of service: 1843–1849

Typology: Unknown; braced-frame; two-story

Style: Unknown

Builders: Cook and Ferris

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed (burned in 1849)

Features of note: Described as a "thirty-by-fifty-foot frame structure."

Second Courthouse

Location: North Howell Street (Hillsdale)

Construction: 1849–1851

Years of service: 1851–

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

Style: Greek Revival

Architects: Baldwin and Boles

Cost: $6,250 ($186,995 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Razed

Features of note: Square cupola; pedimented portico; simple entablature; fluted Doric columns; stone lintels and sills; operable shutters; six-over-six windows.

Third Courthouse

Photo from the United States Department of Agriculture collection.

Location: 29 North Howell Street (Hillsdale)

Construction: 1898–1899

Years of service: 1899–

Typology: Axial (square); stone; two-story (with raised basement)

Style: Beaux-Arts / Romanesque

Architect: Claire Allen

Cost: $45,000 ($1,344,986 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: Central clock tower with copper dome; balustrade; projecting pediments; bracketed cornice; tympanum carving; round-arched and circular windows; upper-floor Corinthian columns; arcaded entry with floral capitals; scored first-floor stonework.

More photos.


Sources: Wikipedia; United States Census Bureau; Michigan's County Courthouses (UM Press, 2010).