Indiana County Courthouse Histories

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Bartholomew County
Named for: General Joseph Bartholomew - Wounded at the Battle of Tippecanoe
Organized: 1821
County Seat: Columbus, 1821
Number of Courthouses: 4

Number	Years	Type	Detail
1	1820-1824	Log	Converted House purchased from Luke Bonesteel for $50
2	1831-1839	Coffee Mill	40x40 This building took ten years and three contractors to complete.
3	1839-1870	Stylized	Arch & Builder: John Elder Contract February 1839 $8500
4	1874-Present	Castle	Arch: Isaac Hodgson, $8998.95; Builder: McCormack & Sweeney, Contract 4/18/1871, Bid $142,900, Paid $175,000; Ordered 12/14/1870 Plans accepted March 1871 Dedicated 12/29/1874 $225,000 Renovated 1928 - Roof replaced 1953 - Remodeled 1968 (elevator added) - Restored 1998

The first commissioner's court met at the house of John Parker on Haw Creek on February 12, 1821 and fixed the county seat at Tiptonia. General John Tipton sold land to the county for the county seat for $1000 but never requested payment. The town name was changed from Tiptona to Columbus at the second commissioner's meeting in March, 1821. The name change so angered Tipton that he left town, never to return. Luke Bonesteel also sold land to the county for the county seat for the sum of $2000.

A contradictory set of records indicate that courts were held in at least 3 other houses after that of Luke Bonesteel, which negates the Bonesteel house as being a true courthouse,. These same records indicate an 1825 completion date on the first brick courthouse built by Giles Mitchell.

The Courtyard contains a Revolutionary War Memorial listing Revolutionary Soldiers buried in the county. There are also several other war memorials.