Indiana County Courthouse Histories
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Noble County
Named for: Noah Noble - Governor of Indiana 1831-1837 - responsible for the mammoth Indiana Internal Improvement Act
Organized: 1836
County Seat: Sparta, 1836 no C.H.
Augusta, 1837-1843
Port Mitchell, 1844-1846
Albion, 1847
Number of Courthouses: 5
| Number | Years | Type | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1840-1843, Augusta | Frame | Built by town proprietors. Destroyed by fire - Major record loss |
| 2 | 1844-1846, Port Mitchell | Frame | Built by town proprietors? |
| 3 | 1847-1959, Albion | Frame | Multiple contractors - Occupied 9/16/1847. $4,045. Destroyed by fire - Major record loss - arsonists |
| 4 | 1861-1887, Albion | Brick | Builder: George Harvey - included jail. $11,000 |
| 5 | 1889-Present, Albion | Castle | Arch: E.O. Fallis & Co., $101,604. Builder: M.J. Malone & Bros. ? Supt: Nicholas Newnam. Cornerstone 5/29/1888. Dedicated 10/15/1889 |
E.O. Fallis, the designer of the 1889 Courthouse designed a similar Courthouse in Bryan, Ohio as well as other Ohio Courthouses.
The town of Albion was platted after gaining the county seat, previous to that the location was merely referred to as Center as in center of the county.
Sparta is on the outskirts of the small town of Kimmell, and Port Mitchell and Augusta are cornfields.
Noble County is irregularly shaped with a 2x6 mile section missing in the southwest corner that is now part of Whitley County. This section of land was moved from Noble to Whitley County in 1859 because the swampy terrain made travel to the north difficult, but Columbia City, the county seat of Whitley County, was reasonably accessible.
T.J. Tolan designed the old jailhouse in Albion - still standing as a museum.