Henry County Courthouse (Indiana)

Infobox_nrhp | name =Henry County Courthouse
nrhp_type =
location= New Castle, Indiana
lat_degrees = 39 | lat_minutes = 55 | lat_seconds = 25 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 85 | long_minutes = 21 | long_seconds = 54 | long_direction = W
locmapin = Indiana
area =
architect= Isaac Hodgson
architecture= Second Empire
added = 1981
refnum=81000013 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=1981-04-02|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Henry County Courthouse is located in New Castle, Indiana on the land designated as court house square by the Henry County Commissioners. The Court House was built between 1865-1869 at a cost of $120,000. An annex was added in 1905 at a cost of $44,000.

When the courthouse was built the commissioners wanted a fireproof courthouse. They did not want to see the courthouse burn again as it had in 1865. Architect Isaac Hodgson provided them with what they wanted, but with a mansard roof and a 110 foot clock tower. The mansard roof was unusual for a midwestern public building in the 1860s. It would become popular at a later date, but the Henry County Court House was probably the earliest example of the style for public buildings in the midwest.

Henry County claims the distinction of being the Raintree County described in Ross Lockridge's book "Raintree County" in part because the Henry County Court House is pictured inside the front cover of the book and the book includes references to places in Henry County.

References

* The Magnificent 92: Indiana Courthouses, by Will Counts and John Dilts, copyright 1991.