Williams County, Ohio

Founding: February 2, 1824 (declared in 1820)
Parent county: Unorganized territory

Namesake: David Williams (1754–1831), New York militiaman
Seats: Defiance (1824–1840); Bryan (1840–)

Land area: 421 square miles

Population (2010): 37,642

Population (historic): 387 (1830); 16,633 (1860); 24,953 (1900); 24,316 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1830–1870; 1950–1970

Subdivisions: One city; eight villages; five CDPs; 12 townships

National Register listings: Seven

Income (per capita): $21,381

Income (median household): $44,538
Business establishments: 801 (47 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 5,076 (30.6%)
Vacant houses: 1,592 (9.6%)
Sources of settlement: Pennsylvania, Germany, and New York

Bryan

Namesake: John A. Bryan, who platted the city

Founding: 1840 (platting); 1840 (post office); 1841 (incorporation)

Population (2010): 8,545

Population (historic): 1,064 (1860); 3,131 (1900); 4,689 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1840–1880; 1900–1960; 1970s
Typology: Grid (with courthouse square)

Courthouse Prehistory (and Miscellany)

- For at least two years after Williams County's organization, officials met in miscellaneous private residences in Defiance.

- At several moments in the nineteenth century, citizens of Montpelier—a city more centrally located than Bryan—lobbied for a change of the county seat. These efforts failed.

- The city of Defiance, the first seat of government, no longer exists in Williams County. It now serves as the seat of Defiance County.

First Courthouse

Image from the Defiance Public Library collection.

Location: Wayne Avenue and 2nd Street (Defiance)

Construction: 1826 or 1832

Years of service: 1826 (?) – 1840

Typology: "I" house; brick; two-story

Style: None

Builder: Unknown

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed (in 1911)

Features of note: Three-bay facade; Flemish-bond brickwork; corbelled cornice; rake boards; flush chimneys; rectangular lintels and sills; six-over-six and nine-over-six windows; operable shutters.

Second Courthouse

Location: Main Street and Mulberry Street (Bryan)

Construction: 1840

Years of service: 1840–1848

Typology: Single-pen; log; two-story

Style: None

Builders: Jacob Over and James McFadden

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Appearance unknown.

Third Courthouse

Location: Courthouse Square (Bryan)

Construction: 1842–1848

Years of service: 1848–1889

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

Style: Greek Revival
Builder: Giles Tomlinson

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Octagonal bell tower with columns in antis; front and rear porticos; denticulate entablature; bulging Ionic columns; bays divided by brick pilasters; six-over-six windows; rectangular lintels and sills; operable shutters.

For a photo, see this page.

Fourth Courthouse

Location: 1 Courthouse Square (Bryan)

Construction: 1889–1891

Years of service: 1891–

Typology: Axial (irregular); brick and stone; three-story

Style: Richardsonian Romanesque
Architect: Edward Oscar Fallis

Cost: $185,000 ($5,122,457 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: Castellated central clock tower; polychromatic brick and sandstone bands; asymmetrical facade; turrets; colonettes; oversized floral capitals; rusticated-stone first floor; deeply recessed, trabeated entrances; one-over-one windows; rectangular lintels and sills.

More photos.


Sources: Wikipedia; Courthouse History; United States Census Bureau; A Standard History of Williams County, Ohio (Lewis, 1920).