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Photograph of Courthouse Square Historic District
Photograph by Chris Light, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Courthouse Square Historic District

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

From the record

“Courthouse Square Historic District, also known as Courthouse Square District, is a national historic district in Greencastle, Indiana, United States. In 1984, the historic district was added to the National Register of Historic Places.”

Wikipedia article Courthouse Square Historic District (Greencastle, Indiana), CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 33 National Register listings published here for Putnam County · listed in 1984 · category: District.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

The ground it stands on

9,283 words

The chapter on Greencastle Township in Biographical and Historical Record of Putnam County, Indiana .., published 1887 names Greencastle. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

The first child born in Greencastle was j and engaged for awhile in teaching school Columbus D. Seller, son of John F. Seller, I for the neighborhood settled along Little on the 11th of October, 1824. Mary Ann j Walnut. After tho death of his wile, which Glidewell, daughter of Robert Glidewell, ' occurred in a few years, he returned again to was the first ^irl born in the town. She be- | the river. Coming a second time to the came the wife of Isaac Mark, and is still j county in 1830, lie settled in Greencastle, and, in 1835, erected on the present site of the National Bank building the first brick store in town. About the same time he erected a brick house on the corner of Xndi- The next who died there was Benjamin i ana ami Poplar streets. Captain Thornbun? Akers. lie was buried in the old cemetery, j owning the first money-safe in the county, and his grave was the first in that place of I his store became, in effect, a place of deposit, rest. j where spectators, merchants and tanners

Passage source: Biographical and Historical Record of Putnam County, Indiana .., published 1887.

Never did the character of Greencastle's citizens show to better advantage than during the year succeeding the tire. Within that time there were made, or ;. early completed, brick and stone improvements to the value of 8252.500, and wooden buildings and repairs worth §98,305, making a total of §350,- 8(35. These works required the consumption of 4,805,000 brick, v\<\ stone valued as it came from the quarry at 830,000. Daring the same period there w«*re made by the city street improvements worth §0,000. Within the same time the s ity had provided two lire-engines, two engine-houses with alarm-bells, eleven cisterns and one pool, having a united capacity of nearly ten thousand barrels, and there was organized a lire department in two companies, already welldrilled and disciplined, to fight the fire-fiend wherever he might show his lurid front.

Passage source: Biographical and Historical Record of Putnam County, Indiana .., published 1887.

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 Greencastle Township - 9,283 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Mines and quarries near this property

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Courthouse Square Historic District: 3 producers, 1 plant, 1 past producer. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Clay, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Lone Star Greencastle Qy/Cement PltStone, Crushed/Broken, ClayProducer
Putnam Co. Hwy. Dept.StoneProducer
Greencastle Pulverizing PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenPlant
Greencastle QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Lone Star Greencastle QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Putnam County

Storms near this property

60 of 75 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Greencastle, the town this property stands in, in 75 storm reports between 1993 and 2020: 40 thunderstorm wind, 29 hail, 3 flash flood, 1 tornado. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2002Tornado (F1)Greencastle$200,000A tornado briefly touched down at the Putnam County Fairground and destroyed 1 horse stable and damaged one other building.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$70,000The area along Washington Street and Bloomington Street saw a lot of tree and utility line damage from thunderstorm winds. Witnesses at the Putnam County Fairgrounds said several chickens were killed as a result of the storm.
May 1996Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$70,000no account filed
April 1993Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$50,000Trees were downed 5 miles northwest of Greencastle, and there was some minor damage to homes in the area. South of Fincastle a roof was blown of a barn.
March 1996Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$50,000no account filed
January 2008Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$45,000A utility pole, a garage, a horse barn, and a camper were damaged in Greencastle due to damaging thunderstorm winds.
January 2008Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$28,000Part of the roof on a pole barn and a modular home was blown off due to damaging thunderstorm winds. Windows were blown in at a business. A tree fell due to the thunderstorm winds and crushed a truck.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$20,000no account filed
August 2019Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$10,000Emergency manager reports multiple trees and tree limbs downed due to thunderstorm wind gusts with some on having fallen on cars.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$10,000A tree fell onto a house.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$5,000Numerous trees downed due to thunderstorm wind gusts between Greencastle and Fillmore. 0.5 inch hail also occurred at the same time.
July 2015Flash FloodGreencastle$5,000Water, estimated at 8 to 10 inches deep, was covering the road at the intersection of Highfall and Shadowlawn Avenues. No barricades were in place but police were aware of the flooding. Multiple other locations inside and outside the city limits also have flooding.
June 2008Flash FloodGreencastle$5,000Roadways were covered and previous flooding conditions were exacerbated due to heavy rainfall that caused flash flooding.
December 1998Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$5,000no account filed
July 2012Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$3,000Several trees were reported down in Madison Township due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$2,500Power lines were down in the vicinity of United States Highway 231 South. No further details of location were given.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$2,000Power lines and poles were downed due to thunderstorm wind gusts across town. A 50 mph wind gust was measured around the same time.
August 2014FloodGreencastle$1,000Several streets in Greencastle were water covered due to heavy thunderstorm rainfall.
June 2010LightningGreencastle$1,000Lightning struck a barn northwest of Greencastle near the intersection of County Road 300 W and 25 N. Damage to the barn was reportedly minor. The owner fought the fire and put it out using a garden hose. The time this event occurred was estimated.
February 2008Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$1,000Trees and power lines were reported down due to damaging thunderstorm winds.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$1,000Power lines were downed.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$1,000Power lines and trees were downed.
March 1996Thunderstorm WindGreencastle$1,000no account filed
June 2008HailGreencastle-In addition to the hail wind gusts to 30 mph also occurred.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-Four healthy trees broke off at ground level and fell across the road.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-Trees and/or tree limbs were blown down by thunderstorm winds in town.
January 2008Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-Gust was measured with wind equipment mounted on a truck. Numerous trees were also reported down around the city due to damaging thunderstorm winds.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-Trees were reported down along state road 231 just north of 200 N.
June 2006HailGreencastle-No property damage reported.
June 2006HailGreencastle-No property damage reported.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-Trees were downed.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-Several trees were downed in Greencastle.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-A few trees were downed.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-Trees were blown down.
November 2005Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-A few trees were downed.
November 2005Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-A few trees were downed.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-Several trees and power outages
March 2012HailGreencastle-no account filed
February 2011HailGreencastle-no account filed
October 2007HailGreencastle-no account filed
October 2007HailGreencastle-no account filed
April 2007HailGreencastle-no account filed
April 2007HailGreencastle-no account filed
April 2007HailGreencastle-no account filed
April 2007HailGreencastle-no account filed
March 2006HailGreencastle-no account filed
April 2006HailGreencastle-no account filed
March 2006HailGreencastle-no account filed
May 2006HailGreencastle-no account filed
June 2006HailGreencastle-no account filed
May 2005HailGreencastle-no account filed
June 2005HailGreencastle-no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-no account filed
July 2004Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-no account filed
June 2004HailGreencastle-no account filed
May 2003HailGreencastle-no account filed
May 2003HailGreencastle-no account filed
May 2003HailGreencastle-no account filed
July 2003Flash FloodGreencastle-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindGreencastle-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Putnam County

Map coverage status

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.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

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 PropertyDistance Listed
Old Greencastle Historic District0.2 miles2011
F.P. Nelson House0.3 miles1983
East College of DePauw University0.3 miles1975
Eastern Enlargement Historic District0.4 miles2011
Northwood Historic District0.5 miles2011
Alfred Hirt House0.5 miles1991

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 84001237 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Putnam CountyAll 33 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.