First Courthouse

The county's first official Courthouse was built in 1798, for $3000 on the current location of the Wes Banco Building, or one block closer to the Ohio River than the present Courthouse. After 1822, it was used as the county jail until a new jail was built in 1901.

First Courthouse.jpg

Previously, the first Court of Common Pleas convened in the territory was at the Campus Martius stockade. Pleasantly, the first convening of court was purely a ceremonial affair, as there were as yet no cases to be heard.

Campus Martius stockade

The Ohio Company Land Office might also be considered a precursor to the Courthouse in terms of official property records, as the place where future Ohio landowners came to stake their claims. This unassuming little structure still stands as the oldest known building in Ohio.

Land Office.jpg