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Common Pleas Court
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Crawford County, Ohio
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General
Division
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Ceiling Dome of the Crawford County
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Common
Pleas Court Main Courtroom
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Home Page
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visit our courtroom
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We are very proud of the architecture and beauty of our
Courthouse and Courtroom and invite you to come take a look for yourself. Although we have displayed several
photographs throughout this website, no photograph can compare to the true
splendor of an in person view.

Colonel William Crawford
from the publication
History of Crawford County
Ohio
Horizons ‘76
Crawford
County is named in honor
of Colonel William Crawford. Col. Crawford
served in the French-Indian War as a soldier and in 1776 entered the
Revolutionary War as a Lieutenant Colonel.
His last battle was fought in 1782 against the Wyandot and Delaware tribes. The march of Crawford’s army began in May
1782. On June 4th his troops
began the battle of Sandusky. At dark, on the first day of the battle,
victory was with the Americans. Firing
began again the next morning and continued through the day. During this day plans were made for a general
attack at nightfall, but while plans were being made, more troops, all mounted,
were spotted making an advance on the camp.
It was decided that the contemplated attack must be abandoned as the
enemy’s force was much more superior in numbers to theirs and the risk would be
greatly hazardous. Crawford began
assembling his troops for a retreat but before all preparations were complete
for an orderly movement, the enemy opened fire causing some of the front line
to hurry off with those in the rear not slow to follow. Many wounded where left behind in the
confusion, some escaping by horseback.
As the army retreated, Col. Crawford tried to locate his son, John, who
was battling with his army. His horse gave
out and Col. Crawford was forced to move eastward on foot. On June 7, Col. Crawford with one of his
aides, Dr. Knight, was captured in an ambush.
Dr. Knight, who with Col. Crawford was beaten with fists, stones, sticks
and clubs, lived and later escaped his captors.
But prior to his escape he was an eyewitness to the torturous murder of
Col. Crawford on June 11,
1782. In honor of Col.
Crawford, a statue has been erected within a niche to the left of the doors on
the Mansfield Street
side of the Courthouse.

Crawford County Courthouse – Circa 1873
Picture from the publication
History of Crawford County
Ohio,
Horizons ‘76
Our Courthouse was built in
1854. Some of the requirements for the
building included that the walls be constructed of good bricks and that they be
at least sixteen inches thick. The
outside of the building had the appearance of an old roman building with wide
steps leading up to a pediment that was supported by four wooden columns.
In 1893, because of space
limitations, the County
Commissioners put on an
addition twice the size that had been set-aside for the basic Courthouse.
In 1908, the cornerstone was
laid for another addition. This
renovation gave the Courthouse its present appearance as well as adding
additional space. Stone was put over the
bricks, stone pillars replaced the wooden columns and the Common Pleas
Courtroom was remolded.
The architect was Harlan
Jones of Mansfield, Ohio.
Under his direction, the County
Commissioners bid for a
stained glass dome to be the centerpiece of the beautiful new Courtroom. Bryant Art Glass of Columbus, Ohio
was awarded the project. They had
presented a design of five main panels with a kind of classical theme.
The cost to the county for
this piece of art was $1,140.00 for the glass and $2,160.00 for the labor for a
total of $3,300.00. The cost of the other
work in the Courthouse; i.e. plasterwork, lights, etc. was $7,350.00.
From 1908 to 1979, the
stained glass dome had nothing done to preserve it. A committee of past elected county officials
and concerned private citizens was established to acquaint the public with the
need to preserve this historic Courthouse, a part of our local heritage. In 1979, a new skylight was installed over
the dome because of the deterioration of the original skylight. This halted the leaking through the
dome. Funds for this project came
entirely from donations from private citizens, organizations and the Timken
Foundation – people who were deeply concerned about the preservation of this
unique and beautiful stained glass dome.
Along with the restoration and preservation efforts completed to the
ceiling dome, other aspects of the Courtroom where also updated and repaired
bringing it to its present appearance.
Acme Art Glass Co. of Grove City, Ohio
was awarded the contract to restore the stained glass for $21,500.00. They completed the project on schedule doing
an excellent job.
Kiess
Electric Co. of Bucyrus, Ohio
was awarded the contract for the repair and replacement of lighting around the
dome and installation of a new lighting system above the dome for a total cost
of $2,300.00.
Harry Hofmann was awarded
the contract for the painting around the dome, and installing the ceiling and
side-wall tiles for a total cost of $2,296.00
Murphy Linoleum of Bucyrus, Ohio was awarded the
contract for the installation of the carpet for a total cost of $4,620.00.
The next addition to be
completed started in August 2000 with the old jail being torn down and replaced
by an extension to the Courthouse, doubling the size of the building. All county administrative offices that had been
located in the Courthouse moved their offices to what is now referred to as the
Administrative Building and the County Prosecutor’s
Office was moved into this new addition from the Crawford County
Offices Building
located on Walnut Street
across from the Courthouse. A point was
made to assure that this addition would look like an extension of the
Courthouse rather than an addition. The
exterior bricks used to cover the extension where selected to match what was
currently covering the exterior of the Courthouse with the exception of the
bricked corner located to the right of the new ramped entrance to the
Courthouse off Walnut Street. This
section of bricks is dedicated to the structure that once stood at that location,
the old jail. Some of the architectural
features of the jail where retained and restored, then used throughout the
interior and exterior of the Administrative
Building extension. This project was completed in October 2001
with costs totaling $5,867,820.77. The
total cost includes all aspects of the building extension: Construction and
Architect Fees, Communication System Wiring, Telephone System, Furniture,
Equipment, Landscaping, etc.
In August 2002 work began on
the remolding of the existing Courthouse with the intension of bringing all the
county courts into the building and updating the mechanical aspects of the
building to support the needs to today’s computerized world. This project was completed in June 2004 with
costs totaling $4,063,709.45. The
completion of the project allowed the Municipal Court to move to the basement
level and first floor of the Courthouse from its previous location at the Crawford County Offices
Building located on Walnut Street
across from the Courthouse. Probate and
Juvenile Court occupy the other half of the basement level and first
floor. The Common Pleas Court remains on the second
floor and is also partially housed on the third floor.

The staff of the Crawford County Common Pleas Court
would like to welcome you to a tour of our Courtroom. We are open from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (with the
exception of observed
holidays). As long as the
schedule is clear, a personal view will be allowed.
Crawford County Courthouse
Photograph from the publication
County Courthouses
of Ohio
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