Meigs County Courthouse (Ohio)

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The Meigs County Courthouse is the government building in Pomeroy, Ohio, and the seat of Meigs County government. Built in 1848 in the Greek Revival style, it sits on a narrow strip of land between the Ohio River and steep cliffs and is one of Ohio’s oldest courthouses still used for its original purpose.

Meigs County was created in 1819 from Gallia County, and the county seat moved from Chester to Pomeroy in 1841. The old Chester courthouse still exists, but a new courthouse was built in Pomeroy after the move. Construction began in 1845, with S.S. Bergin as the architect and John C. Hysell overseeing the project; it was completed in 1848. The county paid about $5,215 for the project, including $5,200 to copy a design similar to the Scioto County Courthouse.

In 1863, the courthouse served as a temporary jail for Morgan’s Raiders after the Battle of Buffington Island.

The three-story brick building features a pedimented entrance with Doric columns, decorative pilasters, a bracketed cornice, and a circular central tower with a dome and cupola. Wings were added along the hillside in 1877 to provide more offices, and the street was excavated to bring the basement level up to grade, allowing at-grade entrances on all three floors.

A Civil War memorial statue was installed on the courthouse lawn in 1870, listing more than 500 county war dead. The surrounding downtown area remains largely unchanged from the 19th century and is visible from across the Ohio River in Mason, West Virginia.

In 1978, the courthouse area was included in the Pomeroy Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The Meigs County Courthouse remains in use by the courts, including the common pleas court.