Ross County, Ohio

Founding: August 20, 1798
Parent counties: Adams and Washington

Namesake: James Ross (1762–1847), Pennsylvania senator
Seat: Chillicothe (1798–)

Land area: 689 square miles

Population (2010): 78,064

Population (historic): 8,540 (1800); 32,074 (1850); 40,307 (1880); 45,181 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1800–1880; 1920–1940; 1950s; 1970–2010

Subdivisions: One city; six villages; three CDPs; 16 townships

National Register listings: 43

Income (per capita): $20,595

Income (median household): $42,626
Business establishments: 1,218 (64.1 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 6,551 (20.5%)
Vacant houses: 3,724 (11.7%)
Sources of settlement: Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Germany

Chillicothe

Namesake: The Chalahgawtha branch of the Shawnee tribe

Founding: 1796 (platting); 1799 (post office)

Population (2010): 21,901

Population (historic): 2,426 (1820); 7,100 (1850); 10,938 (1880); 18,340 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1800–1820; 1830–1880; 1890–1940; 1950s
Typology: Grid

First Courthouse

Location: West 2nd Street and North Walnut Street (Chillicothe)

Construction: 1798

Years of service: 1798–1801

Typology: Double-pen ("dogtrot"); log; two-story

Style: None

Builder: Reuben Abrams

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed (about 1840)

Features of note: Appearance unknown. The structure measured 36' by 24'. It also doubled as a meeting place for Ohio's territorial legislature.

Second Courthouse

Photo from the Ohio Guide Collection; digitized by Ohio Memory.

Location: North Paint Street (Chillicothe)

Construction: 1798–1801

Years of service: 1801–1852

Typology: Cubic; stone; two-story

Style: Federal

Builder: Unknown

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Octagonal central cupola; three-bay facade; denticulate cornice; jack-arched fifteen-over-fifteen windows; pedimented entry surround. Like the log structure that preceded it, this building housed both Ross County's and Ohio's governments.

Third Courthouse

Location: 2 North Paint Street (Chillicothe)

Construction: 1852–1858 / 1929 / 1961

Years of service: 1858–

Typology: Front-gabled (temple-form, with wings); stone and brick; two-story

Style: Greek Revival / Italianate

Architects: Edward Collins and Charles Autenrieth

Cost: $100,000 ($2,876,574 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: Lofty clock tower with octagonal cupola, balustrade, and pilasters; divided bays; paneled pilasters; pediment; integral gutter; oversized acroteria; denticulate cornice; arcading supported by Corinthian columns; tympanum carvings; single-story flanking wings with separate entrances for county offices; ornate stonework.

More photos.


Sources: Wikipedia; Courthouse History; United States Census Bureau; Remarkable Ohio; The County of Ross (Brant, 1902).