Wednesday, September 14th, 2022
100 Years of Law & Order
Events planned for courthouse's centennial
By William Kincaid
Submitted Photo
Construction crews in 1922 work to build the Mercer County Courthouse. The courthouse was dedicated on Labor Day in 1923, according to common pleas court judge Jeffery Ingraham.
CELINA - When Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, launched his law practice in 1985 and made his way to Mercer County, he was enthralled with the beautiful, spectacular courthouse in downtown Celina.
Such a building, he said, makes law so much easier and more pleasant to practice.
"Some courthouses are not as great as the Mercer County Courthouse," he said. "In my practice area, it really is the nicest courthouse. It seems like smaller counties and smaller communities take so much more pride in their courthouses."
"You should be rightfully proud of what is going on here."
Huffman and other powerful state legislators and judges on Tuesday morning joined local elected and appointed officials and other dignitaries for a breakfast ceremony to officially kick off the 100th anniversary celebration of the courthouse.
Submitted Photo
The courthouse, financed with a $500,000 voter-approved bond issue, was described by The Daily Standard in September 1923 as a "veritable marble palace."
Photo by William Kincaid/The Daily Standard
Local officials talk Tuesday morning at the official kickoff of the 100th anniversary celebration of the courthouse.
The anniversary commitee plans to host a string of events leading up to and during the official seven-day celebration set for Sept. 11-17, 2023.
The morning ceremony also acknowledged Third District Court of Appeals judges "visiting today to hear oral arguments in two cases that are currently pending in their court," said Erin Minor, anniversary committee chairperson and county assistant prosecutor.
The county courthouse was built in 1922 and dedicated on Labor Day of 1923, common pleas court judge Jeffery Ingraham pointed out before introducing the court of appeal judges on hand for the ceremony ahead of oral arguments.
"Built 100 years ago, its beauty, architecture and artistry have stood the test of time and continue to awe first time visitors as well as those of us who went through the courthouse for each working day," Minor said.
File Photo/The Daily Standard
Mercer County Courthouse today is considered one of the most beautiful courthouses in Ohio. Forty-foot-tall Corinthian columns grace the four entrances of the gray Bedford limestone building in the heart of downtown Celina.
Yet the courthouse is so much more than a building, Minor noted. It represents strength, durability and permanence for Mercer County. "This courthouse and the hardworking, honest people that have worked here over the last century have helped Mercer County citizens achieve justice and right wrongs, legalized marriages for high school sweethearts, solidified property transfers for first-time homebuyers, finalized adoptions for folks who can't wait to be mothers and fathers, in addition to providing numerous other essential services to the citizens of this county," she said.
Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp, R-Lima, gave high praise to the courthouse.
"It's great to be back in Mercer County. I've been here as a lawyer, been here as a state senator. I was here as a court of appeals judge and now in another capacity," he said. "The Mercer County Courthouse, I've always thought this, is probably the most beautiful in our region - and maybe because it was built and erected a little after some of the others. But the particular nature of the dome, the intricacy is just absolutely gorgeous."
The courthouse is vital not only for the local judiciary, Cupp said.
"It's also for the officials who serve the public, and that makes the county courthouse really a very special building in the heart of every county," he said. "It's a symbol of the whole county and its people as well. It's a landmark in the community … of beauty and stability, and it's also a focal point of pride and identity in the community."
Above all, Cupp said the courthouse is an upward symbol of something more important than what's taking place inside.
"And that is the process of local self-government … where the citizens here in Mercer County and all across Ohio have for more than 200 years elected their fellow citizens, their friends, their neighbors to administer … the civil laws that the Legislature passes that help organize society and provides services for the community's well-being," he said.
