Meigs County, Ohio

Founding: April 1, 1819
Parent counties: Athens and Gallia

Namesake: Return J. Meigs, Jr. (1764–1825), fourth Ohio governor
Seats: Salisbury Township (1819–1822); Chester (1822–1841); Pomeroy (1841–)

Land area: 430 square miles

Population (2010): 23,770

Population (historic): 4,480 (1820); 26,534 (1860); 28,620 (1900); 23,961 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1810–1870; 1970s

Subdivisions: Five villages; one CDP; 12 townships

National Register listings: Nine

Income (per capita): $18,003

Income (median household): $33,407
Business establishments: 298 (79.8 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 2,600 (23.4%)
Vacant houses: 1,615 (14.5%)
Sources of settlement: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Germany, and New York

Pomeroy

Namesake: Samuel Pomeroy, local landowner

Founding: 1804 (platting); 1840 (post office); 1840 (incorporation)

Population (2010): 1,852

Population (historic): 388 (1840); 5,560 (1880); 3,563 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1840–1860; 1910s
Typology: Irregular (riverfront)

Courthouse Prehistory

- Between 1819 and 1821, Meigs County's government convened at a building in rural Salisbury Township.

First Courthouse

Photo by Nyttend.

Location: 46450 State Route 248 (Chester)

Construction: 1822–1823

Years of service: 1823–1841

Typology: Cubic; brick; two-story

Style: Federal

Builders: Lawrence Jinks, Abel Chase, et al.

Cost: $1,255 ($26,063 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Extant (converted into a museum)

Features of note: Three-bay facade; Flemish-bond brickwork; sixteen-over-twelve windows; doorway with fanlight.

Second Courthouse

Photo by David Grant.

Location: 100 East 2nd Street (Pomeroy)

Construction: 1845–1848 / 1877 / 1927

Years of service: 1848–

Typology: Front-gabled (with wings); brick; three-story

Style: Italianate / Greek Revival

Architect: S.S. Bergin

Cost: $5,215 ($150,099 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: Circular cupola; centered gable; paired cornice brackets; inset two-story porch; smooth-sided Doric columns; curving exterior staircases; sandstone retaining wall; round-arched two-over-two windows (with hoodmolds and keystones); divided bays; trabeated first-floor doorways. Built into a slope, with ground-level entrances on all three floors.


Sources: Wikipedia; Courthouse History; United States Census Bureau.