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Ohio’s first statehouse in Chillicothe that is believed to have resembled Licking County’s Second Courthouse |
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 Licking County's first courthouse on the public square served the county well for about six years. During these six years, the face of Newark was changing rapidly. Other buildings joined the courthouse and the jail. The population of the county nearly doubled, as other whites settled in the area and families grew in size. To meet this population growth, the Newark courthouse was rebuilt. This second courthouse was two stories instead of one, made of brick rather than logs. The bell, which had sat outside the first courthouse, was moved to a steeple atop the second. The whole building was about 30-40 feet square in size, large enough for a few offices on the first floor and a courtroom on the second. Unfortunately, we know very little about this second courthouse other than its basic physical appearance and dimensions. Like the first, no photographs of the actual building exist. Shortly after the courthouse was finished, an ordinance was passed outlawing the construction of log buildings on the square. Newark had become a permanent community.Early Ohio Courthouse Architecture Based on descriptions of the building and other courthouses built in Ohio around the same time, we can surmise that this second courthouse-the first to architecturally rise above the basic log style-looked a great deal like the statehouse in Chillicothe. Built some time between 1800 and 1803, the Chillicothe statehouse (a replica of which, built in 1940, still stands there today) epitomized a style of architecture that was quite possibly unique to Ohio. The style was simple: a hipped roof, similar to those seen on houses, but with a small steeple or cupola at the apex, and an entrance marked by twin pillars. The building itself was symmetrical and square. This basic design served as a model for as many as thirty-two early Ohio courthouses, including Licking County's. The Peter Diamond Murder Case One of Licking County's most famous cases was heard in its second courthouse: the murder trial of Peter Diamond in 1825. Diamond, a teenage boy, was accused of murdering a fellow miner in cold blood. Diamond's defense attorney was William Stanbery, a local lawyer who was elected to serve in the United States House of Representatives two years later. Despite his defense, which was argued with "great zeal and ability," Diamond was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. The public, perhaps a bit too bloodthirsty, gathered to watch the execution. Diamond was on the scaffold with a rope around his neck, mere seconds from death, when a messenger rushed up on horseback carrying a reprieve from the governor himself. "It has been suspected that the reprieve was, before that hour, known to the authorities, and that the ghastly preparations were made partially to satisfy the great crowd present and partially to disappoint them." It does seem as though a great number of spectators were somewhat disappointed by the lack of a grisly hanging, although all were entertained by the dramatic last-second reprieve. Over a century before the invention of the television, this was prime time entertainment, which would surely be the talk of the water cooler for weeks afterward. Return to Virtual Tour Sources: Brister, E. M. P. Centennial History of the City of Newark and Licking County, Ohio. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co, 1909. Campen, Richard N. Ohio--an Architectural Portrait. Chagrin Falls, Ohio: West Summit Press, 1973. "Classic Courthouse: Landmark sparkles on square." The Newark Advocate, May 17, 1987. "History of the Licking County Courthouses of Newark, Ohio." Licking County Historical Society. Baker Video & Film Production, 1997. Howe, Henry. Historical Collections of Ohio: An Encyclopedia of the State, vol. II. Cincinnati: C.J. Krehbiel & Co, 1902. W.T, Thomas. "Licking County Courthouses, part 1." The Licking County Historical Society Quarterly. Vol.7, no. 2: 1997. "Newark's centerpiece." The Newark Advocate, November 19, 1989. Smucker, Isaac. Centennial History of Licking County, Ohio: Read at the Centennial Celebration of the Licking Co. Agricultural Society, at the "Old Fort," July 4th, 1876. [Evansville ,Ind: Unigraphic, inc, 1976. "The Story of Licking County's Courthouses." Licking County Bicentennial Commission's Publications Committee, 1976. |