Warren County, Ohio

Founding: May 1, 1803
Parent county: Hamilton

Namesake: Joseph Warren (1741–1775), Revolutionary War general
Seat: Lebanon (1803–)

Land area: 401 square miles

Population (2010): 212,693

Population (historic): 9,925 (1810); 25,560 (1850); 28,392 (1880); 27,348 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1800–1830; 1840s; 1870s; 1940–2010

Subdivisions: Four cities; eight villages; five CDPs; 11 townships

National Register listings: 53

Income (per capita): $31,935

Income (median household): $71,274
Business establishments: 3,928 (54.1 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 4,411 (5.4%)
Vacant houses: 4,824 (5.9%)
Sources of settlement: Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ireland, and Germany

Lebanon

Namesake: The country of Lebanon

Founding: 1802 (platting); 1805 (post office)

Population (2010): 20,033

Population (historic): 1,079 (1820); 2,088 (1850); 2,703 (1880); 3,222 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1802–1820; 1830–1870; 1880s; 1910s; 1930–2010
Typology: Grid

Courthouse Prehistory

- Between 1803 and 1806, Warren County officials met in the Black Horse Tavern, a log building constructed in 1803 by Ichabod Corwin.

First Courthouse

Location: South Broadway Street (Lebanon)

Construction: 1805–1806

Years of service: 1806–1835

Typology: Cubic; brick; two-story

Style: Federal (?)

Builder: Samuel McCray

Cost: $1,450 ($23,023 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Razed (converted into a town hall; burned in 1874)

Features of note: Central cupola; Federal cornice molding. The structure measured 36' by 36'.

Second Courthouse

Location: 300 East Silver Street (Lebanon)

Construction: 1832–1835 / 1880 / 1894

Years of service: 1835–1980

Typology: Center-hall (rectangular); brick and stone; two-story

Style: Classical Revival

Builders: Ebed Stowell and Meeker Morton / William Bryden

Cost: $25,000 ($603,033 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Extant (used for minor county offices)

Features of note: Octagonal, dome-topped cupola with round-arch-dotted base; roof parapet; denticulate, modillion-adorned entablature; corner pavilions; three-bay facade; round-arched windows; scored first-floor stonework; quoins; pedimented entry porch (supported by Ionic columns); round-arched side recesses; rectangular lintels and sills; statue of Lady Justice.

Third Courthouse(s)

Since the 1970s, various agencies within Warren County's government have moved into a plethora of suburban office buildings, all part of a complex situated just south of Lebanon. None of the structures are worth describing. The oldest—built in 1975—houses the county's common-pleas court; the newest, administrative agencies.


Sources: Wikipedia; Courthouse History; United States Census Bureau; Warren County website; The History of Warren County, Ohio (Beers, 1882).