The Gibson County Courthouse in Princeton, Indiana, is the centerpiece of a quintessential small-town square. Folks at Department 56 -the ceramic Christmas village company- agreed, and modeled their 1989 “Original Snow Village Courthouse” after it1. The courthouse in Princeton may have reigned supreme on mantels and pie safes across middle America for thirty-five years, but the life-size building has been an Indiana landmark for a hundred and forty.
Gibson County was named for John Gibson, an officer in the early American wars and secretary of the Indiana Territory2. After it was officially organized in 1813, authorities intended to set up shop in Patoka. Unfortunately, the community’s location in a valley near the Patoka River made it susceptible to malaria. The “black pague3” descended on the village in 1813 and killed most of its residents. Soon, the county seat was re-established in Princeton.
Believe it or not, Princeton’s first courthouse was built by the county commissioners themselves4. The brick structure measured 33×40 feet across two stories and lasted twenty-eight years before Edward Coleman designed a $9,000 building that was similar to the courthouse in Nashville. Framed by shade trees, the square-shaped brick structure served until the present courthouse was built in 18835.
Officials hired the prolific McDonald Brothers to design Gibson County’s third courthouse. Kenneth, Harry, and Donald hailed from Louisville and designed two Indiana courthouses. Then, they oversaw the renovation of a third. Headed up by Harry, the family was also responsible for scads of courthouses across the country, including six in Kentucky and one each in Illinois, Tennessee, and Georgia. The brothers even drew up plans for the Kansas State Capitol6!
None of the McDonald’s courthouses feature golden arches as best I can tell. Each is more sedate than Gibson County’s! McDonald’s courthouses in Salem and Greensburg look dramatically different than their design in Princeton, but I bet the brothers would be proud to see their unique design reused in miniature displays across the country.So would George Bunting, whose earlier Johnson County Courthouse is remarkably similar.
The life-size version of the Gibson County Courthouse looks just like a classic courthouse should. It’s one of Indiana’s finest! The building is mostly a big rectangle, albeit one with four corner towers that frame its main entrances. At the bottom, the courthouse features a rusticated limestone base that accentuates monumental stairways that flare out at their bases.
The primary facade of the courthouse looks east. Unfortunately, it’s no longer in use because of modifications to the building’s interior. Nevertheless, the old main entrance is framed by granite columns with Corinthian capitals. A limestone cornice separates the first story from its second, framed by brick piers with contrasting quoins. Above the second floor sits a heavy cornice that snakes across the top of the building underneath a limestone parapet. A tablet guarded by lion’s heads stands atop the east front.
My favorite part of a courthouse is its clock tower. Gibson County’s repeats the red/white motif of brick piers and limestone bands around Romanesque arches. Instead of a dome, the 100-foot tower terminates at a pyramidal roof with four clock faces8. A squared-off top with an iron balustrade caps the entire affair. The tower isn’t visible from a significant distance like some other courthouses, but it really smacks you in the face when you enter the city from Brumfield Avenue!
Inside, the McDonald brothers utilized lots of black walnut. The north and south entrances lead to a hallway with four central arches, and the first-floor offices retain original flooring, walls, and vaulted ceilings. A main staircase curves into the second floor, where black walnut makes another appearance.Upstairs, the floor features diamond-pattern mosaic tile in earth tones framed in blue, white, and beige.
Unfortunately, much of the building’s first story, the main courtroom, and judicial chambers have all been remodeled over the years. Apparently, the building’s original elements were only covered up9. That’s great news! Should a restoration occur, the building’s original components could be viable pieces of a revitalized courthouse.
It’s hard to chafe at that interior outcome. I’ve never paid much attention to the innards of the courthouses I visit, but I understand the realities of doing business in an ancient building. Preserving an elderly structure for future use often involves compromise. I’m not here to throw shade against officials in Gibson County, especially when there’s such a grand old courthouse to appreciate!
Some courthouses are monuments to recreate in ceramics, like Department 56 did years ago. Others are monuments to civic pride. Some, like Gibson County’s, are both! I left Princeton with a greater understanding of the building I’d taken photos of. At least I think I did, since I also departed with an urge to buy a miniature courthouse on eBay. I see “Original Snow Village Courthouse” specimens pop up from $40 to $75, and I might have to snag one. It’d be a great reminder of such a striking building.
TL;DR
GibsonCounty (pop. 45,844, 48/92)
Princeton(pop. 13,380)
87/92 photographed
Built: 1884
Cost: $118,661 ($2.9million in 2016)
Architect: McDonald Brothers
Style:Romanesque
Courthouse Square:Shelbyville
Height:100 feet
Current Use:County courts and offices
Photographed: 11/11/17
Sources Cited
1 “Courthouse, Original Snow Village” (2020) Department 56 Retirements. Department 56. Web. Retrieved 6/2/20.
2 Gannett, H. (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office [Washington]. Book.
3 Stormont, G. (1914). History of Gibson County Indiana. B.F. Bowen & Co. [Indianapolis]. book.
4 Enyart, David. “Gibson County” Indiana County Courthouse Histories. ACPL Genealogy Center, 2010-2018. Web. Retrieved 6/2/20.
5 (See footnote 3).
6 Indiana Landmarks (2013). Gibson County. Indianapolis. Indiana Landmarks. Web. Retrieved 6/2/20.
7 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Princeton, Gibson County, Indiana (1914). Sanborn Map Company. Map.
8 National Register of Historic Places, Gibson County Courthouse, Princeton, Gibson County, Indiana, National Register # 84001038.
9 (See footnote 8).
