Tour

Athens County Court House

Location and Current Use

The Athens County Courthouse is located in the Uptown map on the corner of Court St. and E. Washington St., between coordinates G-2 and H-2 on the campus map. It is marked as # 27 on the map.

The Athens County Courthouse houses the Clerk of Courts, fourth district Court of Appeals, Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations, Juvenile Court, Probate Court, County Prosecuting Attorney, and the Special Services departments.

The Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Title departments and Drivers License Division are located at the HDL Center, 182 W. Union Street.

History of the Building

Built in 1880, the two story building of red brick has tall windows capped by an ornamental arch of limestone. On the south side of the building is a columned portico through which stone steps lead into the main corridor. In 1935 the building was remodeled and the old "town clock" was transfered to the courthouse steeple from the old city hall building where it had been marking time since 1875.

The courthouse is Athens County's third one on the same site on the southwest corner of Court and Washington Streets. The first one being a two story log house built in 1808 and the second one built in 1817 that was later destroyed by fire.

The courthouse was extensively renovated in 2004, including replacement of windows, re-pointing of the brickwork, and restoration of the "Lady Justice" statue that can be seen on the roof in the photo, above.

Tour

Dick Piccard revised this file (http://www.ohiou.edu/athens/bldgs/courthouse.html) on March 24, 2006.

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