photo by Cindy Steele
Our Courthouse History
~ by Julia Pearson
In the heart of Nashville, the stately landmark courthouse has watched over many comings and goings of life. The locust trees in the front shaded the“ Liars’ Bench,” which was immortalized by Frank Hohenberger’ s photograph. In the early 1900s, folks were treated on Saturday nights to ice cream suppers sponsored by local churches on the courthouse grounds. There was a well and pump, with a common tin cup to provide refreshment for all.
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, the current structure sits on the same spot as two previous courthouses.
Construction of the courthouse and jail began a year after Brown County was organized by the Indiana State Legislature and Nashville designated as the county seat in 1836. Archival records show that on June 1, 1837, a contract was awarded to David Weddle of nearby Columbus. Made of hand-hewn logs chinked with mortar and daub, it was 18 x 24 feet and two stories high. A stairway was at each end of the impressive construction. The ground floor was one massive room, with a stairway at each end to reach two rooms on the second story. Two fireplaces provided heat. Total cost for courthouse and jail was $ 700. This served the community for 16 years. The original building was dismantled and the logs sold, with some reportedly used as a stable nearby.
A contract with John Douglas to build a brick courthouse on the same site for a cost of $ 7,000 stated it should be finished by 1855. Court was convened in the Methodist church until then.
On a crisp November 4 morning in 1873, fire claimed the courthouse, consuming many records from the recorder’ s office along with walls and doors. Records from the clerk, auditor, and treasurer’ s offices were rescued by determined citizens. The entire courtroom was ablaze when the fire was first discovered.
That afternoon, Auditor William J. Watson, commissioners Robert Henderson and Allen Anderson, and Sheriff A. F. Sipes met to discuss the way forward at the law office of Browning and Prather. The following day, commissioners John Stilgenbauer, Allen S. Anderson, and Robert Henderson, along
32 Our Brown County Sept./ Oct. 2022