Justice Center Location
1215 Race Street
New Castle, IN 47362
[contact information]

Courthouse Hours
Monday through Friday
8:00a.m. to 4:00p.m.

Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities

A wheelchair ramp exists on the building just off of the sidewalk. There is elevator access inside the building.

Parking

Parking is available around the building.

Courthouse History

In 1836 County Commissioner Robert Murphey received a budget of $2.50 for furnishing the interior of the second Henry County Courthouse.  The brick building, described as an elaborate “temple of justice,” had twenty-three windows, a fanlight above the door, and a cupola—a vast improvement over the previous log courthouse.¹  The courthouse lasted until fire destroyed it in 1864. Before letting bids for a new courthouse, the County Commissioners devised the following list of requirements:

            It must be free from dampness, which would destroy the precious
            records of the county, on which so much of the ‘peace and quiet’ of
            our community depends.  It must, of course, be fire proof and
            sufficiently commodious for all legitimate purposes not only now, but
            for many years to come; must be of durable materials, and last, it must
            be ‘good looking,’ a monument of the enterprise and taste of the people
            of one of the wealthy counties of the State.²

Irish-born architect Isaac Hodgson met the commissioners list of demands in a Second Empire style courthouse completed in 1869.  To surpass Mr. Murphey’s 1836 interior decoration, the commissioners expended $1400 alone on a fresco decorating the walls and ceilings of the courtroom.³  The total cost of the building was $120,000, a particularly large sum reflecting the inflated material prices lingering from the Civil War.

Hodgson is credited with designing eight Indiana courthouses, beginning with the Italianate style Morgan County Courthouse in 1857-1859.  Only four of these buildings remain today.  The Henry County courthouse is Hodgson’s first use of the Second Empire style in Indiana.  By the late 1860s he embraced the style, characterized by its elegant Mansard roof and striking tower.  Other examples of his Second Empire style work include the demolished Marion County Courthouse (1869-1876), and the Bartholomew County Courthouse (1870-1874).

In 1903 commissioners appropriated funds to enlarge the 1869 building with a western wing completed in 1905.  The new wing included bathrooms and hot water radiators to provide heat—both modern updates at the time..

As with many Indiana courthouses, the 1950s brought additional “modernizations” that unfortunately obscured much of the original historic details.  An eagle that once surmounted a pediment in the courtroom was damaged and removed when workers lowered the ceiling with acoustical tile.  An alert county employee saved the damaged sculpture and housed it in his basement for several years.  When restoration work began on the courthouse in 2005, the sculpture was repaired and returned to the courtroom.⁴.  County Commissioners are currently exploring funding options to remove the courtroom’s dropped ceiling and restore the eagle to its original perch.⁵

The Henry County Courthouse is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  It is located within the popular Shelbyville Square plan with streets intersecting at the corners of the square.

1. George Hazzard, Hazzard’s History of Henry County Indiana, 1822-1906, Vol. II (New Castle, Ind.: Geoge Hazzard, 1906), p. 896.
2. Ibid., p. 897.
3. Ibid.
4. Frank Zile, “The Eagle Has Landed Once Again,” New Castle Courier Times, 26 August 2005.
5. Telephone interview with Linda Winchester , 30 July 2007.
   

History provided by the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. Learn more about architectural styles found in many of Indiana's courthouses from the following publication by the Historic Landmarks Foundation: On the Street Where You Live: Be a Building Watcher! [Requires Acrobat Reader to view and print] Learn more about courthouse squares at the Courts in the Classroom website, provided by the Historic Landmarks Foundation.