After Vigo County was officially formed by the legislature in 1818 county meetings were held in the homes of prominent local businessmen Truman Blackman and Curtis Gilbert. The County Commissioners at the time, (John Hamilton, Ezra Jones, and Isaac Lambert), made the decision to begin construction of an official county courthouse. Construction was begun in 1818 on a two story brick building with a small cupola. The first courthouse was located on the grounds approximately where the current courthouse stands. The first courthouse was completed in 1822 and was used until 1866, when it had to be abandoned due to failing construction. By 1868 the building was razed.

 

The large, four story, brick building on the northeast corner of third and Ohio streets became the "temporary courthouse", and served in that capacity for 22 years. The current courthouse was started with the laying of the 10,000lb cornerstone on August 14, 1884 and completed in 1888. The architect was Samuel Hannaford of Cincinnati, Ohio, and the builder was Terre Haute Stone Co. who completed the building for a cost of $443,000.00. The new courthouse was dedicated June 7, 1888.

 

The current courthouse was designed in the French Neo-Barogue style which was very popular in the 1880's. This style is sometimes referred to as "Stone Quarry Style" because of the elaborate use of stone decoration, ornate columns, oversized keystones, etc. The building is 226 feet in width from north to south, 277 feet long from east to west, and 88 feet high, while the total height measured from the ground to the top of the cupola is 284 feet. The building is constructed from Indiana limestone from the Stinesville quarries. A special order was made by the county commissioners for the clock atop the dome, in which it was expressly provided that the gong should be the Francis Vigo memorial bell.

 

Vigo County was named in honor of Col. Francis Vigo of Italian heritage but a citizen of Spain due to residence in St. Louis. He is credited with great assistance to George Rogers Clark both in financing Clark's exploration and Revolutionary War efforts, and in service as an agent obtaining military information for Clark against British campaigns on the then frontier. Vigo was honored by the naming of the county in his honor and stipulated in his will that upon his death $500 from his estate should go to Vigo County to purchase a court house bell. Vigo also stipulated in his will that this money should only be paid once Congress repaid the monies ($11,387.40) Vigo lent George Rogers Clark during his explorations.  This money along with additional money totaling $2,500.00 was used to purchase and inscribe the two-ton bell called by many "The Liberty Bell of the Northwest Territory". The bell still hangs in the courthangs in the courthouse dome and is used today to toll the hours. The original bell that hung in the first courthouse was given to the Allen Chapel African Methodist Church where it hangs today.

 

            The public dedication of the courthouse was set for June 7, 1888, and the county commissioners specified that the dedication exercises should be at no cost to the county. Ceremonies were set to begin at 10 o'clock in the morning but long before the festivities were scheduled to begin people began pouring into the corridors and filling the rooms all over the building. Crowds of strangers swarmed into the building at every entrance. Shortly before 10 o'clock the Ringgold Band stationed in the center of the lower corridor, and the Military Band, at the south center of the long corridor on the second floor, played to entertain the many visitors. At 10 o'clock the ceremonies began in the courtroom when Judge Allen introduced Col. Richard W. Thompson as the First speaker. After many other speakers the crowds inspected the hallways and other parts of the building, and at night there was a large pyrotechnic display from the courthouse roof that completed the days activities.

 

Since it's beginning the Courthouse Square has been the focal point of activity in the Wabash Valley. The square is also the site of many monuments commemorating the bravery and courage of the men and women of the Wabash Valley.

 

The first of these monuments that was originally erected on the southeast lawn, but is now standing in the northeast lawn is the bust of Colonel Richard W. Thompson. Col. Thompson lived from June 9, 1809 to February 9, 1900. He was as his monument states, an "Orator, Statesman, Patriot, and Friend". He was a colonel in the Union Army and led a group of Wabash Valley soldiers to victory in many campaigns.

 

On the Northeast corner of the courthouse plaza stands the Soldiers and Sailors monument. This monument was erected "In memory of the patriotism and valor of the Soldiers & Sailors of Vigo County in the War of 1861-1865". The monument took almost 40 years to become a reality and was almost placed across from Woodlawn cemetery but it was decided that once the memorial became a reality it should be placed on the exact spot were Vigo County men marched up, to the beating of a drum, to enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War.  The monument has a life size copper statuary of Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton who served during the war, and on each of the corners stands a copper statue of a cavalryman, infantryman sailor, and gunner. Bronze plaques on the north and south side read "Soldiers rest thy warfare o'er, Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking, Dream of battle fields no more, Days of danger- nights of waking" and "On fame's eternal camping ground, Their silent tents are spread, And glory guards with solemn round the bivouac of the dead."

 

On the lawn between the City Hall building and the Courthouse stands a stone water fountain that commemorates one person who held historical significance in two ways. The unobtrusive water fountain commemorates the life of Claude L. Herbert; he was a veteran of the Spanish-American War. He lost his life not in the war but in the Havens & Geddes fire around the turn of the century. One Christmas Herbert was playing Santa Clause at the Haven & Geddes store at 5th and Wabash when a fire broke out. He died trying to save not only the children but the adults who were in the building. He succeeded in saving all the children and some of the adults but lost his own life in the effort. The fountain was originally erected at the corner of 5th and Wabash but had to be moved in the 1980's because of renovations to that corner.

 

Facing Ohio Street on the Southwest lawn is the Vietnam veteran's memorial. This ten foot high twenty four foot long limestone monument was designed by Terre Haute native Robert Crotty Jr. Crotty was in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division. The memorial portrays an American soldier and the outline of Vietnam, with an inscription in the center devised by Marla J Ferguson, another Terre Haute Native. The inscription reads: "For the veterans of Vietnam, for the MIAs, for your fallen comrades, for those who came home; for your heroic efforts abroad, for your greater efforts at home, with belated acknowledgement of your duties performed, for God and country; we offer our heart-felt gratitude in saying at long last - Welcome Home.

 

Historical information and reference materials were provided by Tribune Star; Terre Haute Historical Museum, and Mrs. Dorothy Clark