Morrow County, Ohio

Founding: March 1, 1848
Parent counties: Delaware, Knox, Marion, and Richland

Namesake: Jeremiah Morrow (1771–1852), ninth Ohio governor
Seat: Mount Gilead (1848–)

Land area: 406 square miles

Population (2010): 34,827

Population (historic): 20,280 (1850); 19,072 (1880); 17,879 (1900); 14,489 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1850; 1930–1980; 1990–2010

Subdivisions: One city; seven villages; two CDPs; 16 townships

National Register listings: 15

Income (per capita): $20,795

Income (median household): $49,891
Business establishments: 383 (90.9 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 3,199 (22.7%)
Vacant houses: 1,477 (10.5%)
Sources of settlement: Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, New Jersey, and Germany

Mount Gilead

Namesake: The biblical Gilead, a mountainous region in the Levant

Founding: 1824 (platting, as Whetstone); 1827 (post office); 1839 (incorporation)

Population (2010): 3,660

Population (historic): 646 (1850); 1,216 (1880); 1,528 (1900); 1,871 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1840–1920; 1940–1960; 1990–2010
Typology: Grid

Courthouse Prehistory

- Between 1848 and 1854, Morrow County's government met in a frame building on the current courthouse's site. Court officials, in particular, convened in Mount Gilead's Baptist church.

First Courthouse

Photo by Derek Jensen.

Location: 48 East High Street (Mount Gilead)

Construction: 1852–1854 / 1896

Years of service: 1854–

Typology: Front-gabled; brick; two-story

Style: Greek Revival / Romanesque

Architect: David Auld

Cost: $7,000 ($193,921 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: Romanesque central clock tower with pilasters and string courses; gable-spanning entablature; dentils; corner pilasters; round-arched windows; three-bay facade; polygonal bay; round-arched Romanesque entry.


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