Photograph by Derek Jensen ( Tysto ), Public domain. Via
Wikimedia Commons.
Van Wert County Courthouse
Built in 1876 (Second Empire architecture in the United States and Canada). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. 6 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1914.
From the record
“The Van Wert County Courthouse is a historic governmental building in downtown Van Wert, Ohio, United States. Main Street, the courthouse is a Second Empire structure built in 1876.”
Wikipedia article Van Wert County Courthouse, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 8 National Register listings published here for Van Wert County · listed in 1974 · category: Building · built in 1876, Second Empire architecture in the United States and Canada.
Architectural style. Second Empire architecture in the United States and Canada
National Register reference number.74001639- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1914 to 1953
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
39 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19141953
Specimens collected near this property
12 of 140 shown
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 140 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Van Wert County Courthouse between 1837 and 1965: 132 Animalia, 4 Fungi, 3 Plantae, 1 Chromista.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by Adler, K. K., Bonnewitz L. R.; Stevenson J. A., Bonnewitz Lee R. and others. Each is a
physical object with a catalogue
number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was
collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be
concluded from a species being absent.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
1 working within 5 miles of Van Wert County Courthouse: 1 plant.
All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Van Wert, the town this property stands in, in 60 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 45 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 2 tornado, 1 flash flood.
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.
Winds of 65 mph were reported in Van Wert at 0230 EST. At 0240 EST trees were reported downed, one on a car. A tractor-semitrailer was blown over on route 30.
Emergency management officials reported a 12-inch diameter tree down onto a car. The roof was blown off the Brookside Dairy Convenience Building. Damage is estimated at $40,000.
Law enforcement officials reported tree limbs were broken off by the winds and fell onto a transformer, causing some damage. Damage is estimated at $6,000.
Two three foot diameter trees and several limbs were snapped along with some shingles blown off a home along a one mile stretch. Damage consistent with straight line winds.
Emergency management officials reported a tree fell onto a car with some other minor structural damage occurring in town. Numerous other trees were blown down.
Damage found from aerial survey by Emergency Management of mainly crop damage to corn and beans. Tornado skipped once in middle of this path. Maximum winds were estimated at 65 mph.
Emergency management officials reported a large tree down across the road on the north side of Van Wert. Several large tree limbs and phone lines were also down as a result of thunderstorm winds.
The public reported several trees and tree limbs down within the city limits of Van Wert. Diameters ranged from three to six inches with one measuring about a foot in diameter. The larger one did have some rot in it.
Emergency management officials reported hundreds of trees down across the county. Widespread power outages as a result of major transmission poles, numbering at least 443, between Van Wert and Ottawa being blown down or snapped. Roofs were reported damaged on many homes, with cars and trucks flipped in portions of the county.
Emergency management officials reported a two and one half foot diameter tree, with signs of some rotting, snapped at the base on the east side of Van Wert.
Westwood drive flooded in the city of Van Wert, with water 2 to 3 feet deep. One truck was stranded in the flood waters. Several other roads in flooded in the city.
County Emergency Management reported the tornado touched down at 300 yards north of Kear Road in the city of Van Wert and 300 yards east of John Brown Road. It continued on the ground for around 4 miles, causing roof damage to 3 homes, as numerous trees twisted and snapped. A barn was also damaged by the tornado. The tornado lifted 1 mile east of US-127 and 1/2 mile north of Convoy Rd. There was another brief touchdown at US-127 and 1/2 mile north of Fife Road, where the tornado traveled roughly 100 yards before dissipating.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
When this property was proposed for the
National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is,
and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain.
It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the
occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s
typewriter's.
Description of the property
stone quoins, columns and pilasters of stone, and metal ornamentation faces protected by elaborate hoods, and, above this, a round arcaded shorter in height, but with the same roofline with round hooded the north facade there are square corner towers, very much like those in front but shorter, ending at the mansard roofline and without the rounded Inside, the main entry opens onto a center corridor and original cast iron MAR 2 1 1974 CONDITION cupola. Excellent NATIONAL REGISTER Moved Ruins Unaltered above the windows. of Corinthian columns which support a carved round arch in which there is have been removed.
shouldered mansard roof in which there are placed four round clock bracketed cornice at the roofline and above the cornice metal fleur two under broken pediments which are supported by carved brackets.On are also original.
On the remaining facades the windows are arranged either singly or in Above this modest doorway is the very elaborately decorated face of is stone and forms the walls of the ground floor which is a half- a large round window above a large window with multiple rectangular Fair de lis are evenly spaced around the entire building.Both the mansard windows instead of clock faces.Iron railings at the tower rooflines and central projectionson all but the north facade.The foundation the courtroom the ornately carved woodwork, judge's bench and jury box panes.Above the arch there is a broken pediment and a statue of roof and tower roofs are slate. (Check One) Between the floors there are panelled stone courses. There is a The corridor floors are black and white tile, all original. entrance.
The recessed double doors are plain and are at ground level. Justice. stairs.
frame and the third and present courthouse, was built in 1874-76. The architect was I. J. Tolan and Sons of Fort Wayne, Indiana. to Van Wert, was exhibited in Philadelphia and received first place A. P. McConnay, a local jeweler. MAR 2 1 1974 1876 losophy Military Communications Architecture Aboriginal Landscape Conservation Engineering Commerce Literature REGISTER NATIONAL Invention Industry Music Prehistoric Agriculture Education Empire building and is one of Ohiois outstanding courthouses. Company and installed during the construction of the tower by Urban Planning in a statue competition.The clock was made by the Boston Clock at Willshire, but was moved to Van Wert in l838.There have been The Van Wert County Courthouse isa fine example ofa Second was built nearly lo0 years ago.
AREAs OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Van Wert County was formed April 1, 1820 and named for Isaac Van are the clock tower and the statue of Justice. The statue is eight itarian structure has been well cared for and remains very much as it Wart, one of Major Andre's captors.The original county seat was Completed in 1876,the cost was $l09,92l.Two outstanding features Art
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 74001639, 13 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
Listed places nearby
5 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.
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.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
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.
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