Allen County Courthouse
Fort Wayne, Indiana

All Photographs Copyright © 2004 - 2011 by Robert E. Pence

The Allen County Courthouse is one of only 35 National Historic Landmarks in Indiana. It was ordered in 1895 and dedicated in 1902 at a
cost of more than $800,000. Designed in the Beaux Arts style by Brentwood S. Tolan and constructed by James Stewart, it replaced a
badly-deteriorated 1861 brick structure on the same site. The courthouse shares county offices and functions with the newer City-County
Building across Main street.

To learn more about National Historic Landmarks and the courthouse restoration, visit the Historic Landmarks Foundation site.

A late-night view looking down Court Street in 1977.

Looking down Court Street in 1983, with the Lincoln Tower decorated for Christmas.

Looking down the alley from the east, 1981.

Glimpses from various places around downtown, as early as 1983.

Several years ago a block of mostly-nondescript buildings immediately to the east was cleared and landscaped to create an attractive plaza
and to provide an unobstructed view of this magnificent building. The City-County Building, the Journal Gazette Building, the Anthony Wayne
Building, Fifth Third Bank and the Lincoln Tower also face the plaza.

Some details.

Some pre-dawn winter views from February, 2008

Let's go inside. First, lock your cell phone, pager (people still use pagers?),
camera, and any other electronic devices in your car. You can't take them
into the courthouse during business hours, and the guards at the security
desk will not hold them for you.

Thanks to the efforts of the Allen County Courthouse Preservation Trust, the courthouse has been lovingly maintained and recently underwent
a $9 million restoration of its interior design features, scagliola (faux marble) and Charles Holloway murals. The richness of detail and
ornamentation are wonderful, and it's especially remarkable that it has been restored after having been overpainted many years ago.

Cornerstone from the previous courthouse. Edwin May designed the Indiana State Capitol, built in 1888.

The courtroom photographs show the Circuit Court. It was the only courtroom not in use during my visit.

The intersection of Main and Calhoun Streets, seen here from a second-storey window, once was known as the Transfer Corner. Here the
North-South and East-West streetcar lines, and later, bus lines, intersected. In the horsecar era a turntable in the middle of the intersection
allowed cars to change directions. In the streetcar and trolleybus era, the intersection was one connection short of a double-track grand
junction, and the catenary wires overhead looked like a spiderweb.

The photo below was chosen by the Indiana DNR's Department of Historic Preservation and
Archeology to be published on the state's 2006 historic preservation poster.

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