Built in 1874 (Second Empire style). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
“Benton County Courthouse is a Second Empire style building in Benton County, Indiana that was built in 1874.”
Wikipedia article Benton County Courthouse (Indiana), CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 7 National Register listings published here for Benton County · listed in 2008 · category: Building · built in 1874, Second Empire style, by Gurdon P. Randall.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
The chapter on Center Township in Progress of Education in Benton County, Indiana : with an Explanation of the Indiana School System and the Duties of School Officers, Patrons and Pupils, published 1906 names Fowler. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
Center sclioul. The first part of the term was taught by Jennie Lane of Lafayette, but it was completed by Elizabeth Young. She also taught the first term in the East Center school which was built in 1872. Laura Lewis, Henrietta, Jessie and William Graham, and ^lary A. Pearson (Chenoweth) were pupils in the summer kitchen school. Matthew H. Walker taught the second term at East Center. The third schoolhouse built was in Fowler, and two other buildings were erected before Prairie became Center township. The country- teachers in 1875-6 were Adelaide Smith, F. J. Brown, Samuel Heisler and T. M. Underwood. The enumeration was seventy-five in 1866 and 109 in 1871. In 1870-1 but one school was taught; the enrollment was seventy-nine, daily average forty-two, days taught 120, teacher's daily wages |1. 871/2? total value of school property in township |360, and forty-six volumes in the librar}'.
Passage source: Progress of Education in Benton County, Indiana : with an Explanation of the Indiana School System and the Duties of School Officers, Patrons and Pupils, published 1906.
Warren B. Sheetz established a graded school at Swanington in 1894, employing Carl McCaslin and Lulu Johnson as the teachers in 1894-5. The people in the vicinity have always taken pride in this school and have done much to uphold it. They are now asking Trustee Hagenbuch to build them a new building and organize a high school. There are 1,210 books in the school libraries of the township. Many of Center's common school graduates have completed the course of the Fowler commissioned high school, and quite a number of them have taken a college course. Mr. Hagenbuch has been both a high school and college student, and is especially anxious that his teachers and schools should be of the best.
Passage source: Progress of Education in Benton County, Indiana : with an Explanation of the Indiana School System and the Duties of School Officers, Patrons and Pupils, published 1906.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Center Township - 1,723 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Benton County Courthouse: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benton County Highway Dept. | Stone | Producer |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fowler, the town this property stands in, in 34 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 20 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail, 1 flood, 1 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | $5,000 | The siding on a home was damaged by strong winds. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Thunderstorm outflow winds on the leading edge of a dust storm blew down numerous trees in and around Fowler. Three houses were damaged by trees, one seriously. Damage to roofs and windows was also reported, along with 15 utility poles snapped. A DOT webcam showed near zero visibility on Route 41 west of Fowler. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Shingles were blown off a portion of a roof on a house in the 110 block of East Main Street. |
| February 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Roof damage was reported to outbuildings. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Tree limbs 4 to 8 inches in diameter were blown down throughout Fowler. |
| June 2020 | Heavy Rain | Fowler | - | Rainfall of 7.01 inches was measured in 21 hours. Approximately 5.5 inches of rain fell between 330 pm and 7 pm. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Tree damage was reported in Fowler. |
| July 2016 | Funnel Cloud | Fowler | - | Benton County Emergency Manager relayed reports of funnel clouds, near and south of Boswell and south of Fowler. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | A large limb was blown down. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Trees were blown down. |
| December 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph. |
| March 2007 | Flood | Fowler | - | Two roads closed due to high water. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Seven inch tree limb broken off. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Six inch trees limbs were split and power lines were blown down. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Large tree limbs were blown down in the southwest corner of Benton County. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Utility poles and tree limbs blown down. |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Power lines blown down. |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | Tree limbs and power lines were blown down in Fowler. Pea size hail was also reported. A satellite dish was blown over and twisted south of Fowler. |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| November 2011 | Hail | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| October 2001 | Hail | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| April 2000 | Hail | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | no account filed |
| January 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fowler | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Fraser & Isham Law Office | 0.2 miles | 2000 |
 | Fowler Theatre | 0.4 miles | 2004 |
| Oxford Community Mausoleum | 7.5 miles | 2020 | |
 | David S. Heath House | 7.5 miles | 1999 |
| Oxford Town Square Historic District | 7.6 miles | 2026 | |
 | Presbyterian Church Building | 7.6 miles | 1984 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 08000741 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Benton County | All 7 listed properties in this county. |
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