COURTHOUSE HISTORY THROUGH THE YEARS

The Ingham County Courthouse is an excellent example of Federal Style of architecture. The building's exterior is constructed of saw cut berea sandstone which was quarried in Amhurst, Ohio. The roof was of black buckingham slate and was decorated with galvanized metal ridge caps, dormers and finials. An ornate galvanized metal ballustrade surrounded the flat roof over the center of the building. A beautifully detailed tower of berea sandstone rises from the center of the building and is capped by a ridged dome of iron.

The Courthouse clock and bell were purchased in 1912 from the Seth Thomas Clock Company of New York and Chicago. The bell was made by the McShane Bell Foundry near Baltimore, Maryland. The bell and mechanism were put into place using ropes, block and tackle. The four glass faces of this clock have now been replaced and the clock mechanism has been electrified for accuracy.

In 1919, the County allocated money for a professional decorator to paint and decorate the building. William Andrews Decorating Company of Chicago, Illinois was hired to paint the Courthouse rooms, hallways and rotunda. The original hand laid penny tile floor led the way for the painting of the hallways with the colors in the floor used to adorn the walls. Stenciling was also added for a final touch. The rotunda canvas paintings were done in Chicago and put up in October of 1919. The rotunda paintings and skylight ceiling is trimmed with real gold from Germany.

In 1926, the County opened their newly built jail across Maple Street from the Courthouse. With this new jail came a tunnel under the street for use in heating the courthouse. The original heating plant was a steam generated boiler system which was fired by wood then later coal and was located in the basement. This boiler was removed in 1926 when the new jail provided the courthouse with heat.

The original fireplaces which were also used to provide heat in the office areas are still in the offices throughout the building. Originally wood was burned, then they were converted over to gas logs.

The tunnel was never used for the passage of prisoners between the jail and the Circuit Court. Currently, the tunnel is used for plumbing, heating, electrical and computer lines.

By the 1930's, additional space was needed by departments in the courthouse. When the Courthouse opened, the elected officials had only nine employees and one janitor. The basement was dug out and enlarged, a hidden stairway to and from the basement to the first and second floor was added for staff use.

In 1940, an elevator was added to the Courthouse to go from the first floor to the third floor. Prior to this, dumbwaiters installed in the walls of the Courthouse were used to move the files and record books.

The Courthouse has seven vaults for storage of files and records. County records, such as land purchases, date back to 1835, marriages date back to 1837, birth and death records date back to 1865. The vaults had interconnecting stairways from floor to floor for the use of office employees movement from one vault to another.

In 1980, a renovation study for the Courthouse was done due to the desire to preserve the Courthouse and to improve efficiency of operation in County government, both now and in the years to come.