Resolutions
Record
of the Month!
As the holiday season draws to a close and we begin to focus on New Year’s resolutions, we at the Licking County Records and Archives Center would like to focus on a different type of resolution. For the month of January we are featuring a page from the second volume of Commissioners’ Journals.
The Board of County Commissioners held their final meeting
for 1875 on December 31st. It had been a difficult year due to the burning
of the Licking County Courthouse in April. While the Licking County government
established temporary offices and began recovery efforts within a few days of
the fire, it took over seven months to clear the ruins and begin making plans
to build a new Courthouse.
During the final meeting in 1875, the Commissioners made a
$100 allowance (approximately $2,365.72 today) to Mr. Alexander Koehler for two
sets of drawings showing elevations for the new Courthouse. Additionally, the
Commissioners authorized H. E. Meyer (Henry Edward Myer) of Cleveland to prepare
plans and specifications for the erection of a new Courthouse for the sum of
$1,200 (approximately $28,388.62 today).
Koehler was a German born immigrant who settled in Cleveland
during the Civil War. An accomplished architect in his own right, Koehler designed
his buildings in both the Gothic and Second Empire styles. Meanwhile, Henry E.
Myer was a second generation German-American born in Buffalo, New York. He
moved to Cleveland, Ohio to work as a draftsman shortly after the Civil War.
Myer eventually became an architect, known for constructing courthouses and
other buildings across Ohio in the Second Empire style.
Second Empire, also known as Second Empire Baroque or French
Second Empire architecture, originated in Frances during the reign of Napoleon
III (1852-1870). Seen by many as a perfect marriage between classic
architecture and modern design, Second Empire quickly became the style of
choice for public buildings not only in France, but across Europe and the
United States from the 1860s through the 1880s. In the United States Second
Empire was often referred to as “General Grant Style” due to its use in the
numerous public buildings constructed during Grant’s tenure as President. One
of the most distinctive features of Second Empire architecture is the mansard
roof, which is a roof that has two slopes on all sides with one slope curved and
steeper than the other. The Licking County Courthouse roof is a prime example
of a mansard roof.
Myer’s plans for the Licking County Courthouse were adopted
on March 21, 1876, and construction was completed in 1878. The approximate cost
to construct and furnish the Licking County Courthouse was $190,000
(approximately $4,911,576 today). While the Licking County Courthouse is a
beautifully distinct example of Second Empire architecture today, in 1878 it
bore an eerie resemblance to another courthouse designed by Myer and his
partners.
The Erie County Courthouse in Sandusky, Ohio was designed and
constructed between 1871 and 1874. Like the Licking County Courthouse, the Erie
County Courthouse’s exterior featured four symmetrical entrances with portico topped
by pediments and statues of Lady Justice; arched windows with decorative roses;
quoins; dormers; and a central clock tower rising from the center of the
building which featured a dome-like top. Unlike Licking County, the Erie County
Courthouse had small mansard roof pavilion towers at each corner of the
building and a smaller bell tower. However, between 1930 and 1975, the Erie
County Courthouse was remodeled, removing almost all of exterior intricacies,
the mansard roof, and much of the exterior limestone. Additionally, the four
symmetrical entrances were altered to feature simpler shapes and lines, without
being perfectly symmetrical. The exterior façade of the Erie County Courthouse
was replaced with flat concrete tiles, and the clock tower was changed to
feature a green pyramid top to give the building an art deco aesthetic.
Regardless of the architectural style of a public building,
almost all of them begin as resolutions brought to life by an architect.
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