Indiana County Courthouse Histories
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Martin County
Named for: Major John T. Martin - Kentucky Frontiersman and Indian Fighter
Organized: 1820
County Seat: Hindostan, 1820-1828
Mount Pleasant, 1828-1844
Halberts Bluff - Memphis - West Shoals, 1844
Harrisonville, 1844-1845
Hillsborough - Dover Hill, 1845-1866
Loogootee, 1867
Harrisonville, 1868
Mount Pleasant? (Temporary), 1869-1871
West Shoals, 1869-1876
Shoals (Temporary), 1876-1877
West Shoals, 1877-2004
Shoals, 2004-
Number of Courthouses: 5
| Number | Years | Type | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1829-1844, Mount Pleasant | Brick | |
| 2 | 1846-1866, Hillsboro | Brick | 32x32 Free to County |
| 3 | 1871-1876, West Shoals | Stylized | 45x45 Destroyed by fire - Minor record loss. $29,000 |
| 4 | 1877-2004, West Shoals | Stylized | William P. George, $8,588.90 |
| 5 | 2004-Present, Shoals | Modern | (Converted Bank) |
There exists references to a Hindostan Courthouse 1824-1828 but this is in question. The county seat was probably relocated before a courthouse was built. Hindostan was abandoned due to a horrific outbreak of disease (yellow fever?) that caused many deaths.
"1821 - About 1821 a severe illness (probably Smallpox) hit the town of Hindostan. "The sickness caught the settlers in their log cabins and shanties, and the forest unbroken around them. They were unacclimated. All were sick but Rufus BROWN and many died. The pioneers had built grist mills, and saw mills, but many became disheartened and found ways to leave, so by the year 1824 they were reduced in numbers, until only one-half remained. Much of their energy and means were gone, and they had failed to erect the county building."
While the county buildings were being built at West Shoals (1869-1871), Mount Pleasant may have been a temporary county seat.
The County Seat was in Shoals in 1876-1877 only because the previous Courthouse burned and Shoals had temporary office space available and West Shoals did not.
Sometime during the life of the 1877 courthouse Shoals annexed West Shoals. The White River separates Shoals and West Shoals.
The 1877 courthouse is probably a rebuild of the 1871 courthouse which was heavily damaged or destroyed by fire. Note the lesser cost of the 1877 structure as compared to the 1871.
The 1877 Courthouse has become home to the local Historical Society.
Hillsborough was renamed Dover Hill in 1848, Harrisonville is now called Trinity Springs.
A picture postcard described as the Dover Hill Courthouse exists, but it is actually the Dover Hill Jail.
Approximately one hundred square miles of Martin County was confiscated during WWII and converted to Crane Naval Depot.