Noblesville, Indiana - 2005
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All Photographs Copyright © 2005 by Robert E. Pence
Noblesville, Indiana (population 28,590), seat of Hamilton County, is located just north of Indianapolis. The downtown looks like it has been thebeneficiary of considerable investment since I was last there. It's very clean and attractive.
The Hamilton County Courthouse was designed in the Second Empire style with a mansard roof and a square center tower by Edwin May, who
later designed the Indiana State House. It was built 1877 – 1879 at a cost of $107,143 and was provided with steam heat, an innovation at that
time. Eight pieces of ornamental statuary were removed from the plan to pay for the heating system; I'd guess they probably would have
adorned the tops of the chimney-like structures between the dormers on the front and rear of the building.
The courthouse was the site of a trial in 1925 of Ku Klux Klan Knights of the Invisible Empire Grand Dragon D.C. Stephenson, a prominent
political figure who kidnapped and raped a State House secretary. He was convicted and received the maximum prison sentence. When his
political allies failed to come to his aid, he started naming names. His expose' brought about the indictment of many Indiana politicians,
including governor Ed Jackson.
The courthouse sits in the center of a traditional town square
Probably as gritty as it gets in Noblesville
