Miami County, Ohio

Founding: March 1, 1807
Parent county: Montgomery

Namesake: The Miami people
Seat: Troy (1807–)

Land area: 407 square miles

Population (2010): 102,506

Population (historic): 3,941 (1810); 24,999 (1850); 36,158 (1880); 51,301 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1800–1860; 1870s; 1940–1970

Subdivisions: Three cities; nine villages; 12 townships

National Register listings: 45

Income (per capita): $25,006

Income (median household): $51,507
Business establishments: 2,117 (48.4 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 10,594 (23.9%)
Vacant houses: 3,105 (7%)
Sources of settlement: Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Germany, and New Jersey

Troy

Namesake: The legendary Anatolian city of Troy

Founding: 1807 (platting); 1813 (incorporation)

Population (2010): 25,058

Population (historic): 179 (1810); 1,956 (1850); 3,803 (1880); 8,675 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1810–1900; 1910–1940; 1950–1980; 1990–2010
Typology: Grid (with interrupting public square)

Courthouse Prehistory

- Between 1807 and 1811, Miami County's government convened in several Troy buildings. Among them was the Overfield Tavern (pictured above), a two-story log structure built in 1808.

First Courthouse

Location: Troy

Construction: 1811

Years of service: 1811–1816

Typology: Double-pen ("dogtrot"); log

Style: None

Builder: Unknown

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Appearance unknown. The building doubled as a jail.

Second Courthouse

Location: Public Square (Troy)

Construction: 1816

Years of service: 1816–1839

Typology: Brick

Style: Federal (?)

Builders: William Barbee and Fielding Young

Cost: $2,475 ($36,247 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Razed

Features of note: Appearance unknown.

Third Courthouse

Location: Main Street (Troy)

Construction: 1839–1841

Years of service: 1841–1885

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

Style: Greek Revival

Builder: A.E. Turnbull

Cost: $20,000 ($482,853 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Razed

Features of note: Dome-topped cupola; pediment; denticulate entablature; corner pilasters; recessed central bay; Ionic columns in antis; rectangular lintels and sills; six-over-six windows.

For an illustration, see this page.

Fourth Courthouse

Location: 215 West Main Street (Troy)

Construction: 1885–1888

Years of service: 1888–

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

Style: Classical Revival / Romanesque

Builder: Joseph W. Yost

Cost: Unknown

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: Central dome with circular drum (topped by a statue of Lady Justice); corner pavilions; pediments; modillions; denticulate entablature; paired Corinthian columns; round-arched windows with hoodmolds and keystones; cornice dividing first and second floors; Classical Revival porches; rusticated stonework.

More photos.


Sources: Wikipedia; Courthouse History; United States Census Bureau; The History of Miami County, Ohio (Beers, 1880).