The Guernsey County Courthouse is located on U. S. Route 40 in Cambridge

Cambridge, Ohio

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,520 people, 4,924 households, and 2,954 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,055.1 people per square mile . There were 5,585 housing units of an average density of 996.3 per square mile...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. The property was listed on the National Register

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 on 1973-07-16.

History

Guernsey County

Guernsey County, Ohio

Guernsey County is a county located in the state of Ohio. As of 2010, the population was 40,087. Its county seat is Cambridge and is named for the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel, from which many of the county's early settlers came....

 was formed in 1810 and the county constructed its courthouse on Public Square in Cambridge. The courthouse was a Greek Revival style building with red brick facade. Two large double doors were located at the north and south ends and long rectangular windows with dark shutters lined the sides. A large spire stood eighty-seven feet tall with a cupola

Cupola

In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....

 capped by a weathervane shaped like a fish. This courthouse lasted for seventy more years.

Need for a second courthouse became apparent as the county grew in population. The city of Cambridge contracted Joseph W. Yost

Joseph W. Yost

Joseph W. Yost was a prominent architect from Ohio whose works included many courthouses and public buildings. Yost & Packard was a partnership in which he worked.-Early life:...

 to design and build the new courthouse. Yost designed the courthouse in the popular Second Empire style. During this time, Old Washington

Old Washington, Ohio

Old Washington is a village in Guernsey County, Ohio, United States. The population was 265 at the 2000 census.-History:In July 1863, Old Washington was the site of a small engagement during the course of Morgan's Raid...

 petitioned to be granted the county seat claiming that they were more central. This petition failed and the foundation to the second courthouse was laid in 1881, with the cornerstone bearing the date August 4, 1881. The building was dedicated on 1883-09-11.

Exterior

The exterior is of fine sandstone block with a hipped roof and mansard-roofed towers. Stairs lead to main entrance and is covered by a small balcony. A statue of Justice stands in the broken pediment on the southern face, below the statue is a fan shaped stone bearing the date 1881. A central tower rises from the center of the building and houses a four faced clock and consists of louvered arch openings.

The courthouse is surrounded by various memorials to soldiers from the county in the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

, Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, and Operation Desert Storm. The most prominent is the Civil War Monument.

Further reading

• Sarchet, Col. Cyrus P.B.; History of Guernsey County; B.F. Bowen & Co.; Indianapolis, Indiana; 1911
• Thrane, Susan; Ohio County Courthouses; Indiana University Press; Bloomington, Indiana; 2000 ISBN 0-253-33778-X
• Stebbins, Clair; Ohio's Court Houses; Columbus Dispatch; Columbus, Ohio; 1980
• Marzulli, Lawrence J.; The Development of Ohio's Counties and Their Historic Courthouses; Gray Printing Company; Fostoria, Ohio; 1983