Putnam County, Ohio

Founding: January 3, 1834 (declared in 1820)
Parent county: Unorganized territory

Namesake: Israel Putnam (1718–1790), Revolutionary War hero
Seats: Kalida (1834–1866); Ottawa (1866–)

Land area: 483 square miles

Population (2010): 34,499

Population (historic): 5,189 (1840); 17,081 (1870); 32,525 (1900); 25,074 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1830–1890; 1950–1970

Subdivisions: 15 villages; one CDP; 15 townships

National Register listings: 10

Income (per capita): $24,023

Income (median household): $56,573
Business establishments: 728 (47.4 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 3,641 (26.5%)
Vacant houses: 756 (5.5%)
Sources of settlement: Germany, Pennsylvania, Switzerland, and Wales

Ottawa

Namesake: The Ottawa tribe

Founding: 1833 (platting); 1839 (post office); 1861 (incorporation)

Population (2010): 4,460

Population (historic): 104 (1850); 1,293 (1880); 2,322 (1900); 2,169 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1860s; 1880–1900; 1940–1960; 1990s
Typology: Grid (linear)

First Courthouse

Location: Kalida

Construction: 1834 (?)

Years of service: 1834–1839

Typology: Unknown; frame

Style: None

Builder: Unknown

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Appearance unknown.

Second Courthouse

Location: Kalida

Construction: 1838–1839 (?)

Years of service: 1839–1864

Typology: Unknown; brick; two-story

Style: Unknown

Builder: Unknown

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed (burned in 1864)

Features of note: Appearance unknown. One source describes the building as "very imposing . . . for the period."

Third Courthouse

Location: East Main Street (Ottawa)

Construction: 1866–1867

Years of service: 1867–

Typology: Center-hall; brick; two-story

Style: Italianate

Builder: Matthew Ensey

Cost: $15,000 ($267,049 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Razed

Features of note: Central mansard-roofed tower with round-arched entrance; bracketed cornice; round-arched windows; stone hoodmolds.

For an illustration, see this page.

Fourth Courthouse

Location: 245 East Main Street (Ottawa)

Construction: 1912–1913

Years of service: 1913–

Typology: Cube; stone; two-story

Style: Beaux-Arts

Architect: Frank Packard

Cost: $200,000 ($5,035,125 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: Five-bay facade; tile roof; ornate entablature with modillions, carved panels, triglyphs, and mutules; modified Doric columns; broken pediments above windows; balustrades; round-arched first-floor openings; scored first-floor stonework; projecting, intricately carved doorway surrounds.

More photos.


Sources: Wikipedia; Courthouse History; United States Census Bureau; History of Putnam County, Ohio (Hardesty, 1880); History of Putnam County, Ohio (Bowen, 1915).