Harrison County courthouse history dates to 1818

The first Harrison County Courthouse was built in 1818, just five years after the county was formed from portions of Jefferson and Tuscarawas counties.

The brick courthouse measured 42 feet square and cost $5,695 to construct, with John McCurdy serving as contractor. The following year, John Olmstead added a row of one-story brick office buildings and a two-story sheriff’s residence combined with a jail for $1,299.

On May 6, 1880, a fire destroyed some of the county’s oldest records. Accounts say the blaze began when a cigar stub was tossed into a wooden spittoon filled with sawdust. The fire spread through the building next to the courthouse, which housed county offices including the treasurer, auditor and clerk of courts.

Photographs from the era show the mansard roof on the sheriff’s residence and jail. The judge’s offices were located on the second floor of the Market House, behind the courthouse.

Construction of the courthouse and surrounding offices also reshaped the landscape. Dirt was hauled out of North Main Street to fill in a dip that once held a lake. The project made it easier to extend the road north toward Hopedale and eased the steep grade.

By 1893, the original courthouse and related structures were torn down to make way for the larger courthouse still standing today. The current courthouse, near the center of the courthouse square, measures about 100 feet square. The square itself is 198 feet by 198 feet.

Harrison County, established in 1813, continues to preserve its early history through the Harrison County Historical Society.